Justice A. M. Liman of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of N235,451,969 traced to the account of a convicted fraudster, Obinwanne Okeke, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, announced this in a statement on Thursday.
Okeke, the Chief Executive Officer of Invictus Group, pleaded guilty to two charges: computer fraud and wire fraud.
He was arrested in August 2019 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Okeke, who made it into Forbes Africa’s Under 30 List in 2016, was nabbed for $11 million fraud after an official account belonging to a steel company’s CEO was hacked.
The FBI was contacted about the scam by the representatives of Unatrac Holding Limited, the export sales office for Caterpillar heavy industrial and firm equipment.
On March 23, 2020, Justice Liman ordered the interim forfeiture of the money domiciled in First City Monument Bank (FCMB).
This was sequel to an ex parte application dated December 18, 2019, by the Lagos Zonal Office of the EFCC.
The Judge ordered the EFCC to advertise the same in any national newspaper for anyone to show cause why the said money should not be finally forfeited to Nigeria.
After the publication of the order, the EFCC on June 2, 2020, filed a Motion on Notice seeking seizure.
In court on November 12, 2020, EFCC counsel, I. Sulaiman, prayed for the confiscation.
Justice Liman granted and ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.
