N13bn Cash : Court Delivers Ruling Over Final Forfeiture on June 6

Oke’s wife paid $1.658m to acquire Osborne Ikoyi’s flat – EFCC

Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos will on June 6 deliver his ruling on the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), asking him to make a final forfeiture order on the recovered N13billion cash from a flat at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The request was sequel to the inability of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) or any interested parties to file a counter affidavit, claiming the ownership of the humongous cash.

The EFCC operatives had recovered the staggering cash of $43,449million, £27,800 and N23,218million from the Ikoyi, Lagos private home.

The judge had on April 13 gave a 14- day ultimatum to any interested party to file application of ownership, otherwise the money would be forfeited to the federal government.

But at the resumed hearing on Friday, NIA did not file any application while there was no application from any interested parties.

But the matter took a new twist on Friday when the EFCC informed the court that Folashade, the wife of the embattled DG of NIA, Ayo Oke, paid a whopping $1.658 million to acquire the Osborne flat.

Speaking through its lawyer, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the EFCC disclosed that Mrs. Folashade Oke made a cash payment of $1.658 million for the purchase of the flat between August 25 and September 3, 2015 in the name of a firm, Chobe Ventures Limited.

It added that Folashade and her son, Ayodele Oke Junior, are directors in the company.

Oke’s wife was also said to have made the cash payment in tranches of $700,000, $650,000 and $353,700 to a Bureau de Change, Sulah Petroleum and Gas Limited, which later converted the dollars to N360million and subsequently paid it to Fine and Country Limited for the purchase of the property.

Oyedepo thereafter tendered as exhibit the receipt issued by Fine and Country Limited to Chobe Ventures Limited.

Oyedepo also informed the court that, “The circumstances leading to the discovery of the huge sums stockpiled in Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, leaves no one in doubt that the act was pursuant to an unlawful activity.

“The very act of making cash payment of $1.6 million without going through any financial institution by Mrs. Folashade Oke for the acquisition of Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, is a criminal act punishable by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Amendment Act. I refer My Lord to sections 1(a), 16(d) and 16(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Amendment Act. ”

The EFCC’s affidavit before the court further revealed that Chobe Ventures, which is not into any business, was merely incorporated to retain proceeds of suspected unlawful activities of Mr. Oke.

While urging the court to order the permanent forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government, Oyedepo insisted that the property, which was purchased in a criminal manner, made the money recovered therein to be proceeds of unlawful acts.”

According to the EFCC’s lawyer, in spite of the newspaper advertisement of the initial order of April 13, 2017 temporarily forfeiting the money to the Federal Government, no interested party has shown up in court on Friday to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

Oyedepo further argued that Chobe Ventures Limited, in whose apartment the huge sums were recovered, did not come to court to challenge the forfeiture order, despite being served with the motion on notice at its registered address of No. 18 Ogunmodede street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.

He said, “The failure of Chobe Ventures Limited, in whose custody these properties we are seeking to forfeit were found, to show cause before My Lord today why the property (money) should not be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, Your Lordship should hold that Chobe Ventures Limited has admitted all the facts deposed to in our affidavit and order the final forfeiture of the property to the Federal Government. ”

Meanwhile, a Lagos – based lawyer, Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje, had filed an application, asking the court to stay proceedings in the forfeiture proceedings pending the outcome of the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo-led panel to probe the claim by Oke that the money belongs to the NIA.

Lawyers to Ogungbeje, Sanni Saheed and Yakub Eleto, further argued that making a final forfeiture order on the money without the conclusion of the Osinbajo-led panel’s investigation would be going too far.

The lawyers also claimed that their client’s application is predicated on the fact that the EFCC is yet to identify the owner of the money as required by Section 44(2)(k) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

But Oyedepo has urged court to dismiss Ogungbeje’s application on the grounds that he is a busybody who lacks the locus standi to file the application.

The EFCC’s lawyer also urged the court to award a heavy cost against Ogungbeje for seeking to waste the precious time of the court.

According to Oyedepo, Ogungbeje’s application is tantamount to an application for stay of proceedings, which is contrary to Section 19(2) of the EFCC Act.

Oyedepo said, “I submit that coming to My Lord through the back door by way of this application is a violent abuse of the processes of this court.

“The application is standing in the way of justice and the applicant even lacks the locus standi to be a party in this suit.”

Justice Hassan later adjourned the matter till June 6 for his ruling on the final forfeiture of the N13bn cash.