The interim forfeiture of $899,900 and N304, 490,160.95 that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission recovered from former Accountant General of the Federation Ahmed Idris has been mandated by a Federal Capital Territory High Court.
Additionally, the court order interim forfeiture of 15 properties that had been found with Idris in Kano and Abuja.
A Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered the interim forfeiture of $899,900 and N304, 490,160.95 recovered from a former Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) Ahmed Idris, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The court also forfeited 15 properties recovered from Idris in Kano and Abuja.
The properties linked to Idris which were listed in the Schedule for forfeiture include Kano City Mall/Al Ikhlas Shopping Mall at Mandwawarti, Kano; one storey Shopping Complex at Ladanai, Kano; Corner Shops at Ladanai, Kano; a duplex at Karsana, Abuja; Royal Duplex at Deneji Quarters, Kano and a Duplex at Plot 271, New Jersey Street, Efab Blue Fountain Estate, Abuja.
The EFCC is prosecuting Idris and others on 14 counts of theft and money laundering totaling N109 billion.
On Tuesday, December 13, 2022, Justice M.A. Hassan issued the Order in his decision on the EFCC’s motion exparte no. M/1149/2022. Wilson Uwujaren, the spokesperson for the anti-corruption movement, said in a statement.
The motion filed by the EFCC asked the court for an order of temporary attachment or forfeiture of the assets listed in the application’s schedule, pending the hearing and resolution of the main issue in Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Ahmed Idris and Others, Charge No. FCT, HC/CR/299/2022.
The Commission prayed the court to grant among others, an Order approving the interim “management of the assets and properties in the Schedule to this application to the applicant”, an order “to open an interest yielding account where monies realised from the management of the assets and properties of the persons stated in the Schedule to this application shall be paid”, and an order “freezing the Bank Accounts of the persons referred to as account holders/ or the bank accounts set out in the Schedule to this application”, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive case.
Justice Hassan granted the motion as prayed but further ordered that the recovery account sought to be opened by the applicant, ”shall be in the name of the Commission as Recovery Account and the details of the Account shall be reported back to the Court within one week of opening”.
Nine properties linked to the second respondent, Mohammed Kudu Usman, located in Abuja, Niger and Nasarawa States, were also forfeited in the interim.
They include plots of land with shops in Chanchaga Local Government Area of Niger State, a 37 hectares of farmland with livestock located along Minna-Bida Road in Niger State, Bungalow flats at Gwarimpa, Abuja, Bungalow Buildings at Masaka, Nasarawa State, plots of land at Dutse Alhaji Abuja and 13 plots of land at Integrated City, Minna, Niger State.