Justice A.O. Owoeye of a Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of the sums of N1, 168, 602, 877. 44, (One Billion, One Hundred and Sixty Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Two, Eight Hundred and Seventy Seven Naira, Forty Four kobo); $392, 818. 01 (Three Hundred and Ninety Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighteen United States Dollars, One Cent) and £35, 070 (Thirty Five Thousand, Seventy Pound Sterling) recovered from one Muiz Tijani Adeyinka, a former manager of First Bank of Nigeria, FBN, to the Federal Government of Nigeria..
Justice Owoeye made the final forfeiture order of the monies following a motion which was supported with an affidavit deposed to by Isah Yusuf Nadabo, an investigator with the EFCC.
The judge had on November 27, 2024, ordered the interim forfeiture of the funds and also ordered the publication of the order in a national newspaper for any interested party to show cause why the various sums of money should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
Moving the application for the final forfeiture on Monday, EFCC counsel, Zeenat Atiku, told the court that “The Commission, on March 26, 2024, received a petition from First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) alleging fraudulent transactions in various bank accounts within and outside First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
“Investigation revealed that Muiz Tijani Adeyinka, who is the principal suspect, is a former staff of First Bank Nigeria Plc. He is also the MD/CEO of Golden Sieve Logistics Ltd, Golden Sieve Properties Ltd., and Golden Sieve Motors Ltd., which are all duly incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC.
“He was attached to the Settlement Office of the bank and by virtue of his office, he had some inalienable access available only to the Settlement Office.”
According to the EFCC lawyer, Adeyinka manipulated the settlement accounts by creating fictitious domiciliary inflows , with which he immediately transferred the Naira equivalent to himself and his cronies.
She added that “In a bid to conceal and disguise the said fraudulent proceeds derived, he laundered the same by purchasing US Dollars and USDT.
“The said proceeds were traced to his personal dollar account and crypto wallet accounts.”
Atiku further told the court that the interim forfeiture order was published in The Punch newspaper of December 5, 2024 in compliance with the directive of the court.
After listening to the EFCC’s counsel, Justice Owoeye granted the application as prayed and held that “I have considered the application. I have examined the affidavit in support, the written address and the publication attached. The application has merit and the same is hereby granted.”