Published January 16, 2019
The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered a former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.), to permanently forfeit to the Federal Government a sum of N2.2bn found by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in his possession.
A former NAF’s Director of Finance and Budget, Air
Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo, was equally ordered to permanently forfeit a
sum of N190,828,978.15 recovered from him to the Federal Government.
Also forfeited was a sum of N101m recovered from Solomon Enterprises, a company linked to Amosu.
Justice Mojisola Olatoregun ordered that the forfeited funds should be paid into the Federal Government’s Treasury
Single
Account, adding that the order must be complied with within 14 days and
the EFCC must file an affidavit to show compliance.
The judge
said having looked at the application brought before her for the
forfeiture of the sums, she saw no reason why Amosu, Gbadebo and Solomon
Enterprises should not be ordered to permanently forfeit the money to
the Federal Government.
She said she agreed with the EFCC that
the funds were proceeds of criminal activities, holding that, “They (the
defendants) failed to provide any facts as to the level of probability
to ascertain if the funds were obtained unlawfully.”
The EFCC had last year secure an interim order temporarily forfeiting the funds to the Federal Government.
The
anti-graft agency after publishing the interim forfeiture orders in the
newspapers, subsequently applied to the court for the final forfeiture
of the rules.
Ruling on the application on Wednesday, Justice
Olatoregun held, “Upon examination of the two applications asking that
the interim orders be set aside, dated July 28, 2018, from the first
respondent and the interested party, I found no reason to set aside the
orders. The applications are hereby dismissed.
“The only conclusion I can reach is that the funds are proceeds of unlawful activity.
“The affidavits disclose no reason why the order of final forfeiture should not be made.”
In
ordering the permanent forfeiture of the funds to the Federal
Government, Justice Olatoregun rejected the argument of the defence
counsel that the N22.8bn fraud charges against Amosu and others were
still pending before the court and that the forfeiture order would foist
a fait accompli on their clients should they not be found guilty.
Justice Olatoregun said the forfeiture proceedings were an “action in rem” and a non-conviction based forfeiture.
“The requirements for the two proceedings are different and distinct,” she held.
She
emphasised that in a forfeiture proceedings, evidential burden shifts
to the respondents to prove that they obtained the money lawfully, which
she said they failed to do.
“The case (forfeiture) can go in the face of the criminal proceedings,” she said.
Source:- Punchng
Share your thoughts