The Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday, ordered the
temporary forfeiture of a property at Banana Island, Lagos, bought for $37.5m
in 2013 by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke.
The property, designated as Building 3, Block B, Bella Vista
Plot 1, Zone N, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island Foreshore Estate, has
24 apartments, 18 flats and six penthouses, according to court papers presented
on Tuesday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Apart from the property, the court also ordered the
temporary forfeiture of the sums 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 number 1013612486.
Justice Chuka Obiozor gave the temporary forfeiture orders
on Wednesday, following an ex parte application to that effect 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 unlawful activities of
Diezani.
The lawyer said investigation by the EFCC revealed that
Diezani made the $37.5m payment for the purchase of the property in cash.
It added that the money was moved straight from her house in
Abuja and paid into the seller’s First Bank account in Abuja.
“Nothing could be more suspicious than someone keeping such
huge amounts in her apartment. Why was she doing that, to avoid attention?
“We are convinced beyond reasonable doubt because, as of the
time
Diezani
this happened, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke was still in
public service as the Minister of Petroleum Resources,” Ozioko told Justice
Obiozor.
The ex parte application, taken before the judge, 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 affidavit attached to the application, an
investigative officer with the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, alleged that Nwokedi,
in connivance with Diezani, purposely incorporated the company, Rusimpex
Limited, on September 11, 2013, to facilitate the alleged fraud scheme.
According to Bawa, when Nwokedi was questioned by the EFCC,
the lawyer explained that he had approached Diezani for opportunities in the
oil and gas industry but the ex-minister told him that being a lawyer, she did
not have any such opportunity for him and asked him whether he could, in the
alternative, manage landed properties, an offer which Nwokedi accepted.
Bawa said Nwokedi later registered Rusimpex Limited at the
Corporate Affairs Commission, and named a lawyer in his law firm, Adetula
Ayokunle, and a Russian, Vladmir Jourauleu, as the directors.
He added that the address of Nwokedi’s law firm in Ikoyi,
Lagos, was registered as the business address of Rusimpex Limited.
The investigator added that when Ayokunle was questioned by
the EFCC, he explained that he only appended his signature to the CAC documents
at his boss’ instruction, while Jourauleu denied knowledge of the company.
The investigator stated, “Sometime in 2013, the former
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, invited Barrister
Afamefuna Nwokedi, the Principal Counsel Stillwaters Law Firm, to her house in
Abuja for a meeting, where she informed the said Barrister Afamefuna Nwokedi to
incorporate a company and use same as a front to manage landed properties on
her behalf without using her name in any of the incorporation documents.
“She further directed Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi to meet with Mr.
Bisi Onasanya, the (former) Group Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria
Plc for that purpose.
“Mr. Stephen Onasanya was invited by the commission and he
came and volunteered an extrajudicial statement wherein he stated that he
marketed a property at Bella Vista, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, belonging to
Mr. Youseff Fattau of Ibatex Nigeria Limited to Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and
Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke later bought the property from Mr. Youseff Fattau,
through her lawyer, Mr. Afamefuna Nwokedi (who she introduced to him) and that
payment for the said property was made through the Abuja office of First Bank
of Nigeria Plc.
“First Bank of Nigeria Plc, through Mr. Barau Muazu, wrote
to the commission and also volunteered an extrajudicial statement in writing
that it made the payments totalling US37,500,000 to Ibatex Nigeria Limited
& Y. F. Construction Development and Real Estate Limited on behalf of Mrs.
Diezani Alison-Madueke and that they (officials) collected the entire cash from
Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke at her residence No. 10 Fredrick Chiluba Close, off
Jose Marti Street, Asokoro, Abuja, and paid into the First Bank of Nigeria Plc
accounts of Ibatex and Y. F. Construction Development and Real Estate Limited
on her instructions.”
After listening to the EFCC lawyer, Ozioko, on Wednesday,
Justice Obiozor made an order temporarily seizing the property and the funds.
He 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.
PUNCH
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