N138m fraud: Court orders interim forfeiture of Naval officers’ properties, money
Justice
Hassan also granted another order, temporarily forfeiting to the government the
sum of N11, 040,000 found in the account of a limited liability company,
Lakewood Garden Ventures Limited suspected to be a proceed of unlawful
activity.
The judge
granted the order after entertaining an ex-parte application argued before him
by a lawyer from the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) Idris Abdullahi Mohammed.
The EFCC had
in an affidavit attached to the application and disposed to by one of its
operatives, Idris Adamu, claimed that it received intelligence report for the
case of conspiracy, stealing and money laundering against the two Naval
officers, who were posted to Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency
(NIMASA) as Maritime Guard Commanders from September 2011 to September 2015.
Adamu
maintained in the affidavit that Captain Morakinyo received monies from the
people listed below: Yahaya Kanawa -N3,800,000; Maigai Intergrated
Limited-N4,650,000; Capital Providers Limited -N8,000,000; Crescent Pillars
Investment Limited; N18,000,000.
He alleged
that the military officer converted the sum of N6,500,000 meant for the
construction of a communication centre for Maritime Guard Command, and that
monies totalling N40,950,000, property of NIMASA were received through his
personal account domicile at Access Bank Plc.
In his
ruling, Justice Hassan apart from granting the order of interim forfeiture,
also ordered the anti-graft agency to publish the order of the court in any
national daily for the respondents or anyone who is interested in the
properties sought to be forfeited to appear before the court to show cause
within 14 days why the final forfeiture of the properties should not be made in
favour of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
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