$43.3m Cash Discovery: Court Orders Interim Forfeiture of Ikoyi Property

…MAGU

SAYS WHISTLE-BLOWER IN IKOYI APARTMENT NOW A MILLIONAIRE

Justice Saliu Saidu of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday ordered the temporary forfeiture to the Federal Government of Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The property housed the sums of $43.3 million, £27,800, and N23 million in cash.
The judge issued the orders following an ex-parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Before now, the EFCC had linked the wife of the sacked Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, Folashade Oke, as the owner of the flat.
The commission said it found out that Mrs. Oke made a cash payment of $1.6 million for the purchase of the flat between August 25 and September 3, 2015.
The EFCC further argued that the woman purchased the property in the name of a company, Chobe Ventures Ltd, of which she and her son, were directors. The payments were made to Fine and Country Ltd.
The anti-graft agency explained that Mrs. Oke made the cash payment in tranches of $700,000 , $650,000, and $353,700, to a subsidiary of a Bureau de Change — Sulah Petroleum and Gas Ltd.
The company was said to have later converted the sums into N360 million and subsequently paid it to Fine and Country Ltd for the purchase of the property.
The judge adjourned the case until November 30 for any interested party to appear and show cause why the interim forfeiture should not be a permanent forfeiture.
Meanwhile, the EFCC has said the “young man” who blew the whistle on the massive stash of money recovered from an apartment in Ikoyi, Lagos, is now a millionaire.
The acting chairman of the commission, Ibrahim Magu, stated this in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, the spokesman of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement.
Uwujaren said Magu spoke at the ongoing 7th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
On April 7, EFCC operatives broke into a four-bedroom apartment on Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, and pulled out $43 million, £27,800 and N23 million stashed in a wardrobe.
The commission said the discovery followed an operation triggered by a whistle blower’s alert received by its Lagos office.
Uwujaren quoted Magu as saying that the whistle blower was already a millionaire by virtue of the percentage he was officially entitled to.
“We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who has not seen one million Naira of his own before.
“So, he is under counseling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication.
“We don’t want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride,” he said.
The EFCC boss called on Nigerians who want a positive change in the country to take advantage of the whistle blowing policy announced by the government early this year.
He noted that aside from contributing to the eradication of corruption, potential whistle blowers also stood to “benefit from the illicit acquisition by the looters”.
“So, we encourage more whistle blowers to come forward with genuine information that will lead to recoveries from looters of public treasuries.
“That is part of the ways we can put an end to the looting madness in the public sector.
“When they know that they have no place to keep the loot, as all eyes are on them, they will find looting of public treasuries unattractive,” Magu said.
On June 7, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.

.NAN