A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of seven million dollars discovered in the vault of a Providus Bank branch in Ikoyi, Lagos. Justice Emeka Nwite gave the ruling on Monday following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC said the money was linked to Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited and was not credited to any known customer’s account. Investigators told the court that the bank failed to file a suspicious transaction report with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
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An affidavit by EFCC officer Emmanuel Okeibunor revealed that bank staff claimed the money was kept for the company’s managing director, who denied depositing it, saying it represented a loan she had taken from the bank. The anti-graft agency first secured an interim order of forfeiture on August 27.
At Monday’s hearing, lawyer Darlington Ozurumba appeared but did not oppose the EFCC’s application. Justice Nwite ruled that the request was meritorious and ordered that the funds be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
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