In recent news from the Federal High Court in Lagos, a significant ruling was made regarding the final forfeiture of substantial sums of money recovered from a former employee of a financial institution. The court ordered the forfeiture of over N1 billion, $392,818.01, and £35,070 to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
This decision came following a motion supported by an affidavit from an investigator of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The court had initially ordered the interim forfeiture of the funds and published the directive for any interested parties to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited.
During the court proceedings, it was revealed that the former employee, identified as Muiz Adeyinka, allegedly engaged in fraudulent activities within his capacity at the financial institution. He manipulated accounts, created fictitious inflows, and laundered the fraudulent proceeds by purchasing foreign currency and engaging in cryptocurrency transactions.
The EFCC counsel presented evidence that the interim forfeiture order had been duly published in a national newspaper as directed by the court. Subsequently, Justice Owoeye granted the application for final forfeiture, stating that the evidence presented merited such a decision.