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Speaker 1: Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled and ordered a

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final forfeiture of seven hundred and fifty three houses allegedly

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built with process of fraud or fraudulent practices by a

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top ex government official or named by the Economic and

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Financial Crimes Commission EFCAC. While the suspects, whose names were

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not disclosed in public domain remained under investigation. The curt

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role that the suspect could not give convincing reasons why

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the properties should not be forfeited to federal government as

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requested by EFCAC. EFSAC, in a news release on Holday

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said the assets is the single largest asset recovery ever

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met by the Commission since its creation in two thousand

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and three. Natterms of the news release as met available

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by EFCC Media Unit, where EFCAC said its Chairman Order

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Oliquid has ordered the Commission operatives to commence recovery of

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properties suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of fraud

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once a suspect is under investigation. Reads Verbatim. Belu Justice

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chilled Onguebuzi on Monday December second, twenty twenty four gave

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a ruling on a final forfeiture of on estates in

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Abuja may joining one hundred and fifty thousand, five hundred

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square meters and containing seven hundred and fifty three units

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of duplexies and other apartments. This is the single largest

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asset recovery by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCAC

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since its inception in two thousand and three. The estate

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rests on Plot one hundred and nine Cadastral Zone C nine,

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Lokogoma District, Abuja. The forfeiture of the property to the

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Federal Government by a former top brass of the government

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was pursued to efc CIS mandates and policy directive of

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ensuring that the corroct and fraudulent do not enjoy the

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proceeds of their unlawful activities. In this instance, the Commission

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relied on Section seventeen of the Advanced Fee for Word

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and other fraud related Offenses at Number fourteen two thousand

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and six and section forty four to be of the

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Constitution of the one hundred and ninety nine Constitution of

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the Federal Republic of Nigeria to push its case ruling

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on the Commission’s application for the final forfeiture of the property.

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Justice Onlamuzi held that the respondents have not shown cause

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as to why he should not lose the property which

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has been reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds

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of unlawful activities. The property is hereby finally forfeited to

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the Federal government. The road to the final forfeiture of

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the property was paved by an interim for future order

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secured before the same judge on November first, twenty twenty four.

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The government official which fraudulently builds the estate is being

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investigated by the EFCAC. The forfeiture of the assets is

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an important modality of the private the suspect of the

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proceeds of the crime. The justification for the forfitual is

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derived from Part two, Section seven of the EFCC Establishment Act,

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which to pulent that the EFCC has powered to cause

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investigations to be conducted as to whether any person, corporate

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body or organization has committed any offense under this art

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or other law relating to economic and financial crimes, and

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cause investigations to be conducted into the properties of any

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person if it appears to the Commission that the person’s

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lifestyle and extent of the properties are not justified by

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his source of income. The Commission’s Executive Chairman, Mister la

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O Lukoyeda, has repeatedly described asset recovery as pivotal in

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the fight against corruption, economic and financial crimes and a

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major disincentives against the corrupt and the fraudulent. Addressing members

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of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti Corruption recently,

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he said, if you understand the intricacies involved in financial crimes,

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investigation and prosecution will discover that to recover one billion

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lier is war. So I told my people that the

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moment we start investigation, we must also start asset tracing,

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because asset recovery is pivotal in the anti corruption fight,

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and one of the potent instruments that you can deploy

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as an anti corruption agency for an effective fight is

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asset tracing and recovery. If you allow the corrupt or

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those that you are investigating to have access to the

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proceeds of their crime, they will fight you with it.

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So one of the ways to weaken them is to

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deprive them of the process of their crime. So our

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monels apparently has changed. Simultaneously, the moment we begin investigation,

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we begin asset tracing. That was what helped us to

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men our recoveries. The Establishment Act of the Commission places

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huge emphasis on asset recovery, subject to the provisions of

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Section twenty four of the Act. Whenever where the assets

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and properties of any person arrested under the Act are attached,

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the Commission shall apply to the Court for an interim

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for future. And where a person is arrested for an

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offense under the Act, the Commission shall immediately trace and

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attach all the assets and properties of the person acquired

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as a result of such economic and financial crime, and

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shown there after costs to be obtained an interim attachment

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order from the Court. And where the assets or properties

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of any person arrested for an offense under the Art

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has been seized, or any assets or property has been

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seized by the Commission under the Act, the Commission shall

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cause an application to be meant to the Court for

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an interim order for fitting the property concern to the

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Federal Government, and the Court shall, if satisfied that there

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is preval freshly evidence that the property concern is liable

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to forfuture, make an interim order for fitting the property

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to the Federal Government, which the Commission would usually escalate

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to earn a final forfeiture. This proceedure was duly followed.

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In this respect, the recovery of the asset represents a

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manston in the annals of operations of the e f

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c C and infallible proof of the commitment of President

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bordha advent Tellabu to the anti corruption wars. Need bringin,

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you bring need in a mortgages aware