GTBank, Zenith Bank, Others to Freeze Bank Accounts Over Alleged N52.9 Million Fraud
- The Federal High Court in Abuja has approved an application by the EFCC to freeze 67 bank accounts
- The EFCC asserted that the bank accounts held proceeds of crime and had to be stopped to prevent the dissipation of funds
- The 67 accounts are held at a number of different banks, such as Wema Bank, GTBank, Stanbic Bank, Union Bank, and others
Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's (EFCC) request to freeze 67 bank accounts across many banks in relation to a purported N52.9 million fraud was granted by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
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The application was granted by Justice Emeka Nwite after EFCC attorney Martha Babatunde submitted an ex-parte motion. Miracle Anameze filed the motion ex-parte, specifically designated as FHC/ABJ/CS/1895/V/2024.
The EFCC requested a court order enabling its chairman, Ola Plucked, or any other designated person to direct bank managing directors to freeze particular accounts, stopping all transactions while the inquiry is ongoing.
BusinessDay reported that the anti-graft attorney told the court that the motion, which was filed on December 17 and dated December 16, asked for the accounts in an attached schedule to be frozen on three specified grounds. The attorney pleaded with the judge to approve the application.
The EFCC claimed that the affected bank accounts needed to be blocked in order to stop fund dissipation because they contained proceeds of crime. The EFCC has opened a probe into the accounts.
Investigator Ikenna Chukwueze of the Procurement Fraud Section said in an affidavit that the inquiry was prompted by a criminal petition that was received on October 17, 2023.
Chukwueze said a thorough and confidential inquiry was started to confirm the petition's allegations.
According to preliminary findings, the petitioner has a corporate naira account with VFD Microfinance Bank (No. 10277491959).
After the petitioner's account was breached on October 16, 2023, N50 million was swiftly taken out and moved to Oluwajuwon's account at Moniepoint Microfinance Bank under the name Heasy Enterprises (Acct No. 8220378843).
“The statement of account of Heasy Enterprises, confirming the receipt of N50,000,000 (fifty million naira), is attached and marked as Exhibit EFCC 2,” he said.
After looking at Exhibit EFCC 2, it was found that the account holder, Taiwo Abubakar, gave some of the money that was obtained fraudulently to a number of people mentioned in a schedule that was included with the application.
According to an attached schedule, Chukwueze clarified that a BVN search turned up several accounts connected to the suspects. He underlined that the injunction was necessary to protect the money in these accounts until the investigation was over.
The 67 accounts are domiciled across various banks, including Union Bank, Stanbic Bank, GTBank, Wema Bank, OPAY, Zenith Bank, KUDA, UBA, FCMB, Moniepoint, Keystone Bank, Access Bank, Providus Bank, Globus Bank, Polaris Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, TAJ Bank, First Bank, PALMPAY, and VFD Microfinance Bank.
EFCC bursts syndicate of 792 crypto fraud suspects
Legit.ng reported that Nigeria's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has made a significant breakthrough in its fight against cryptocurrency and romance scams.
In its largest single-day operation, the commission announced the arrest of 792 suspects in Lagos, including 114 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two Khazartans, one Pakistani, and one Indonesian national.
The EFCC disclosed that the suspects were arrested in a seven-storey Victoria Island, Lagos building
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Source: Legit.ng
