Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
On Friday, May 19, 2017, a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State ordered the final forfeiture of the N449.6 million reportedly found in an abandoned Bureau de Change shop in Victoria Island, Lagos by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last month.
A temporary forfeiture of the money was first ordered by the court on April 19 till yesterday for one Mohammed Tauheed, who was joined as respondent in the suit and any other interested party to appear before the Judge to give reasons why the money should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
But at the resumed hearing of the matter on Friday, counsel to the EFCC, Mr Idris Mohammed, told the court that the interim order of April 19 had been advertised in the newspaper on May 11, so as to bring the case to the notice of Mr Tauheed any interested party.
He added that apart from the newspaper publication, Mr Tauheed was also served with the motion on notice.
He urged the judge to order the final forfeiture of the money since neither Mr Tauheed nor anyone else came forward to claim it.
In a short ruling, Justice Rilawan Aikawa ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government since no one came forward to claim it.
