Justice A.O.Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting
in 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
employee of First Bank of Nigeria, FBN, to the Federal Government of Nigeria,
FGN.
The judge gave the order following a motion on notice
for the final forfeiture order, which was supported with an affidavit deposed
to by Isah Yusuf Nadabo, an investigator with the EFCC.
Justice Owoeye 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 , February 3, 2025, counsel to the EFCC, Zeenat Atiku, stated 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 Atiku, 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 submitted 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."
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