Nigerian Flight Deck Travel and Business Reportage
A Federal High Court Lagos sitting in Lagos on Friday ordered the forfeiture of N3.5bilion and 68,000 dollars belonging to former Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) Managing Director, Ibrahim Abdulsalami, and others including former General Manager Procurement Adegorite Olumuyiwa, General Manager for Procurement and another former General Manager Finance, Segun Agbolade.
Also included in the forfeiture are a former acting General Manager for Information and Communication Technology of NAMA, Bolaniran Akinribido, Adegorite’s wife, Joy, and one Abiodun Sessebor, Randville Investment Ltd, Multeng Travels and Tours, Delosa Ltd, Airsea Delivery Ltd and Sea Schedule Systems Ltd.
Justice Oluremi Oguntoyibo also granted temporarily forfeiture of a residential building at 5, Sobo Arobiodu Street, GRA, Ikeja, three filling stations at Egbeda-Idimu Road, by Faith Bus Stop; Idi-Oro, Mushin and Alakuko, all in Lagos.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that the ownership of the listed properties was yet to be determined.
All the individuals and the companies involved are on trial before Justice Babs Kuewumi of the same court facing a 21-count charge bordering on N6.8billion fraud.
The EFCC had filed a suit seeking that the bank accounts of the 12 persons and companies currently being prosecuted be temporarily attached and taken over by EFCC until trial is concluded.
EFCC prayed for an order that all dealings and transactions on the bank accounts be suspended pending the conclusion of prosecution of the alleged offences against them.
The prosecution also asked that the properties, buildings, parcels of land and premises belonging to them be temporarily vested in the EFCC.
Among the sums forfeited are N30.1million in Adegorite’s account, N8.7million and N120million in Randville Investment’s account, and another 42, 000 dollars in Adegorite’s account.
Others forfeited sums include, N2.8million in Delosas’ account, N1.2billion in Avesta Ventures Electronics Nigeria Ltd’s account, N985.6million, N281million, N681million and N47million in the accounts of Merry Aviation Communication Electrical Ltd, among others.
In a supporting affidavit, an EFCC investigating officer, Mr Nuradeen Bello, said the commission received a petition January 13, 2016, alleging that some management staff of NAMA stole government funds running into billions of naira.
He said that the sums were derived through fictitious procurement contracts, fake container clearing contracts and fraudulent cash advances to some members of staff.
Bello said the funds in the bank accounts are some of the laundered proceeds of the alleged crime for which they are being prosecuted.
The despondent said that while the prosecution is ongoing, the commission got wind of plans by the respondents to transfer funds out of their various accounts.
The properties, buildings, parcels of land and premises belonging to the respondents also form some of the laundered proceeds of the alleged crimes for which they are being prosecuted, Bello further said.
He averred that an order of court attaching the aforementioned funds to the commission was imperative to prevent further dissipation of the respondents’ funds and assets.
He said that it was in the interest of justice to grant the EFCC’s application.
Justice Oguntoyibo granted the application as prayed after it was moved by EFCCs counsel.
