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Court freezes suspended Abiodun’s aide’s bank accounts, seizes Lekki home
Court docket freezes suspended Abiodun’s aide’s financial institution accounts, seizes Lekki residence
Court docket freezes suspended Abiodun’s aide’s financial institution accounts, seizes Lekki residence
A Federal Excessive Court docket sitting in Lagos Tuesday ordered the interim forfeiture of the funds and properties traced to Mr Abidemi Ganiyu Rufai, the suspended aide of the Ogun Governor going through wire fraud expenses in america.
The order covers Rufai’s property positioned at Home 11. Omodayo Awotuga Avenue, Bera Property, Chevy View, Lekki, Lagos and funds in his accounts with two new era banks.
Justice Tijjani Ringim made the order sequel to an ex parte movement filed and argued by a counsel to the Financial and Monetary Crimes (EFCC) Ebuka Okongwu.
The EFCC joined Rufai and his agency Omo Mayodele International Funding as 1st and third respondents within the go well with.
Okongwu informed the choose that it was important for the court docket to grant the prayer of interim forfeiture to protect the res and stop additional dissipation of the defendants’ funds.
He furnished the choose with an affidavit sworn to by an EFCC investigator, Usman Abdulhamid, detailing the company’s investigation of Rufai in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The investigator acknowledged that Rufai had already dissipated a suspicious N29.37million in tranches of N5,000,000, N5,000,000, N2,730,000, N1,100,000, N2,040,000, N2,000,000, N2,000,000 and N5,000,000.
The funds had been warehoused in his accounts in three banks.
Rufai was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York on Could 14 over alleged $350,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud from Washington State Employment Safety Division, in america.
He was indicted for alleged conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identification theft.
Justice Ringim in a bench ruling granted the EFCC’s order as prayed within the movement paper.
“I’m glad by the averment within the affidavit deposed to by Usman Abdulhamid and the authorized submission of the counsel that this utility ought to succeed and identical is accordingly granted as prayed,” he held.
The choose additionally ordered the EFCC to publish the order inside 14 days from Tuesday for any get together to indicate trigger why the funds and properties shouldn’t be completely forfeited to the Federal Authorities of Nigeria.
H3 adjourned additional proceedings until December 1, 2021.
In keeping with the affidavit, the EFCC investigated Rufai’s sources of earnings and financial institution accounts.
It discovered that on nineteenth March 2020, there was an influx of N4,500,000, which was additional dissipated the identical day in 5 tranches of N1,000,000 (in 4 locations) and N500,000 into Rufai’s Warranty Belief Financial institution (GTBank) Account.
It stated the transaction recurred within the 1st Respondent’s account domiciled with the third Respondent.
Subsequent transactions included however not restricted to “transactions of the sum of N5,000,000 on the twenty seventh March 2020, N5,000,000 on third April 2020; N2,730,000 on the seventh April 2020; N1,100,000; N2,040,000 on the 14th April 2020; N2,000,000 on the twenty seventh April 2020; N2,000,000 on the twenty eighth April 2020; N5,000,000 on the thirteenth Could 2020, and quite a few different transactions, which had been all dissipated to his GTB Account on the identical day of the influx.
“Additional evaluation revealed that previous to the primary influx on the nineteenth March 2020, the first Respondents account not often receives such visitors and large inflows.
“Upon proactive investigative methodology of asset monitoring and restoration carried out by the Fee, it was revealed that the first Respondent owns a property positioned at HOUSE 11. OMODAYO AWOTUGA STREET, BERA ESTATE, CHEVY VIEW, LEKKI, LAGOS, NIGERIA,” it stated.
The EFCC added that it wrote numerous letters of investigation actions to numerous monetary establishments, companies and associated regulatory our bodies, a few of the responses of that are nonetheless being awaited.
