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,,,,,, Ex-minister gets 75-year term over multi-billion naira fraud.
By Correspondent in Abuja.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of multi-billion naira assets and investments belonging to convicted former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Chukwunyere Nnabuoku, to the Federal Government,following his conviction for money laundering.
Delivering the ruling on Wednesday, Justice James Omotosho held that properties acquired through proceeds of crime cannot be allowed to remain in the possession of a convicted person.
The order followed a motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ,EFCC,seeking the confiscation and forfeiture of the ex-AGoF’s assets, bank funds and investments traced to unlawful activities.
Justice Omotosho ruled that the application by the anti-graft agency was meritorious, stressing that forfeiture of criminal proceeds is a natural consequence of conviction.
“In crimes such as money laundering, forfeiting the proceeds of crime is deemed to be a natural consequence of conviction,” the judge declared.
He added that the law would not permit a convict to continue enjoying properties established to have been acquired through illegal means.
“The convict here will not be allowed to enjoy those properties which are being sought to be forfeited.
He has been convicted and those properties have been established to emanate from proceeds of illegal activities,” the court held.
The judge dismissed objections raised by counsel to Nnabuoku, who argued that the filing of notice of appeal should prevent the court from granting a final forfeiture order.
Justice Omotosho ruled that filing a notice of appeal does not stop the court from enforcing forfeiture, describing the confiscation as part of the punishment flowing from conviction.
“Forfeiture in this instance is seen as part of the judgment. It is similar to sentencing handed down by the court,” he said.
The court further rejected claims that the forfeiture proceedings amounted to an abuse of court process, noting that no evidence was presented to show that another court had issued similar orders on the same assets.
Among the forfeited assets are millions of naira lodged in several bank accounts linked to companies allegedly connected to the convict.
The funds include over ₦12.5 million in Temeeo Synergy Concept Limited’s account, ₦4.1 million in Turge Global Investment Limited’s account, ₦51.2 million in Arafura Transnational Afro Ltd’s account, as well as ₦220 million earlier refunded by Nnabuoku into an EFCC recovery account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Also forfeited was a five-bedroom duplex located at No. 20, City Gate Estate, Kukwaba, Abuja, valued at ₦64 million, alongside an additional ₦3 million infrastructural levy paid on the property.
According to the EFCC, the house keys were voluntarily handed over by the former government official as part of restitution.
The court equally ordered the confiscation of Nnabuoku’s massive stock investments spread across major Nigerian financial institutions and companies.
The investments include 10 million shares in Access Holdings Plc, over 7.5 million shares in First HoldCo Plc, 4.5 million shares in Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and more than 10 million shares in United Bank for Africa Plc.
Other affected investments include shares in Zenith Bank Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and several others.
The EFCC told the court that the total market value of the seized stocks stood at about ₦1.94 billion as of March 29.
The ruling comes barely weeks after Justice Omotosho convicted Nnabuoku on a nine-count money laundering charge brought against him by the EFCC.
The judge had sentenced the former acting Accountant-General to 72 years imprisonment after finding him guilty on all nine counts.
Although he handed down eight years imprisonment on each count, the court ordered that the sentences run concurrently from March 23.
The Reporters recalls that on the same day,the Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, to 75 years imprisonment in absentia over a multi-billion naira fraud linked to the Zungeru and Mambilla hydroelectric power projects.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho convicted the former minister on all 12 counts of money laundering brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), declaring that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
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