July 29, (THEWILL) – A Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has ordered the final forfeiture of a cash sum of N120m, owned by Mrs Roseline Egbuha, a primary school teacher with Ozala Primary School, Abagana, Anambra State and her accomplices, to the Federal Government
A statement by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), said the money was traced to her account and that of her accomplices.
The statement posted by ICPC on its website, said the forfeited money, as well as cars, form part of the N540 million proceeds of crime traced to Mrs Egbuha and her accomplices.
It explained that Mrs Egbuha, who was on a monthly salary of N76,000 as at the time of her arrest in 2020 by ICPC, had the forfeited cash stashed in her bank account with Guaranty Trust Bank.
Upon further investigations by ICPC, her alleged complicity in money laundering is said to have been revealed, thereby, prompting the Commission to place a Post-No-Debit (PND) on the account.
The PND was lifted by Egbuha and her accomplices when they purportedly secured a court order from a Federal High Court in Abuja.
She and her accomplices later moved the money into multiple bank accounts owned by Bureau de Change operators and private individuals.
Her accomplices are: James Erebouye, Emon Okune, Chisom Iwueke, Alonge Ojo, Maureen Chidimma, Owoyemi Mayowa and Ejeaka Ifeoma, including two private companies, were charged to court.
They were charged for involvement in fraudulent activities and warehousing proceeds of crime.
The counsel to ICPC, Adesina Raheem, in a motion ex partè filed in 2021 before Justice D. U. Okorowo, alleged that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities stashed away in six new generation banks by Egbuha and her associates.
He prayed the court to order the final forfeiture of the money and cars to the FG.
After taking arguments from the ICPC counsel and the respondents, Justice Okorowo ruled that monies found in all the seven individual bank accounts and that of the two private companies and the items, should be forfeited to the FG.
The statement added that the forfeiture order includes N30.8 million in a Polaris Bank account of Dorason Construction Ltd. Others are: N17.4 million traced to a Sterling Bank account of James Erebouye and N16.4 million found in the Zenith Bank account of Dybako and Sons Nig Ltd.
Ojo Alonge, another accomplice, will also forfeit to the FG N14.1 million traced to two separate accounts with First Bank and Ecobank respectively.
Owoyemi Mayowa on her part forfeited N7.1 million held in Zenith Bank.
The final forfeiture order includes the sum of N8.2 million, N9.7 million, N6.5 million and N122,100 kept in different bank accounts, by Emon Okune, Chisom Iwueke, Maureen Chidimma and Ejeaka Ifeoma respectively.
Other items forfeited by the respondents are Toyota Lexus and Venza sport utility vehicles.
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