Court orders temporary forfeiture of Alison-madueke’s alleged property

AFEDERAL High Court, Lagos, yesterday ordered the temporar y forfeiture of a property at Banana Island, Lagos allegedly bought by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-madueke in 2013 at Usd$37.5million. According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the property, designated as Building 3, Block B , Bella Vista Plot 1, Zone N , Federal Government Lay out, Banana Island Foreshore Estate, has 24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses.

The court also ordered the temporary forfeiture of $2,740,197.96 and N84,537,840.70, said to be part of the rent collected on the property.

The funds were said to have been found in a Zenith Bank Account No. 1013612486.

The vacation judge, Justice Chuka Obiozor, made the orders following an ex-parte application brought before him by a counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Anselem Ozioko.

Ozioko had told the judge that the EFCC reasonably suspected that the property was acquired with proceeds of alleged unla wful activities of Diezani.

He said investigation by the EFCC revealed that Diezani made $37.5 million payment for the purchase of the property in cash, adding that the money was moved straight from her house in Abuja and paid into the seller’s First Bank account in Abuja.

Justice Obiozor, who made the order temporarily seizing the property and the funds, directed that the order should be published in a national newspaper and adjourned till August 7, 2017 for anyone interested in the property and funds to appear before him.

The ex-parteapplication was filed pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14, 2006 and Section 44 (2) (k) of the constitution. Listed as respondents in the application are Diezani, a legal practitioner Afamefuna Nwokedi and a company, Rusimpex Limited.

In a 41-paragraph affida vit attached to the application, an investigative officer with the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, stated that Nwokedi, in connivance with Diezani, purposely incorporated the company, Rusimpex Limited, on September 11, 2013 to facilitate the alleged fraud scheme.

He said Nwokedi later registered Rusimpex Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission, wherein a lawyer in his la w firm, Adetula A yokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, were listed as the directors of the company , while the address of Nwokedi’s la w firm in Ikoyi, Lagos, was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited. ,