N52.9m fraud: Court grants EFCC approval to freeze 67 bank accounts

The Federal High Court in Abuja has approved an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to freeze 67 bank accounts across multiple banks in connection with an alleged ₦52.9 million fraud.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the application following an ex-parte motion filed by Martha Babatunde, EFCC counsel. The motion ex-parte, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1895/V/2024, was filed by Miracle Anameze.

The EFCC sought a court order empowering, Ola Plucked, its chairman, or any authorized officer, to instruct bank managing directors to freeze specific accounts, halting all transactions pending investigation.

The anti-graft lawyer informed the court that the motion was dated December 16 and filed on December 17, requesting the freezing of the accounts listed in an attached schedule based on three stated grounds. The lawyer urged the court to grant the application.

“There are three grounds attached,” she said. Babatunde urged the court to grant the application. Justice Nwite then asked the lawyer for how long the investigation took and she said 90 days.

The judge, who held that the application was meritorious, granted the prayer. He adjourned the matter until March 24 for mention.

The EFCC argued that the bank accounts in question contained proceeds of crime and needed to be frozen to prevent fund dissipation. The accounts are under investigation by the EFCC. In an affidavit, investigator Ikenna Chukwueze from the Procurement Fraud Section stated that the investigation stemmed from a criminal petition received on October 17, 2023.

Barr signed the petition, accompanied by ADSEL’s account statement. Nnamdi Michael Ogobuchi on behalf of ADSEL and Mr Dollah Kingsley Nnamdi against Taiwo Abubakar Oluwajuwon and Heasy Enterprises.
The petition alleged offences of internet-related fraud, conspiracy, and unauthorized withdrawal involving the sum of ₦52,991,000.00 (fifty-two million, nine hundred and ninety-one thousand naira).

Chukwueze stated that a discreet and thorough investigation was launched to verify the claims made in the petition.

Preliminary findings revealed that the petitioner operates a corporate naira account (No. 10277491959) with VFD Microfinance Bank. On October 16, 2023, the petitioner’s account was compromised, and ₦50 million was withdrawn in rapid succession and transferred to an account at Moniepoint Microfinance Bank under the name Heasy Enterprises (Acct No. 8220378843), owned by Oluwajuwon.

“The statement of account of Heasy Enterprises, confirming the receipt of ₦50,000,000 (fifty million naira), is attached and marked as Exhibit EFCC 2,” he said.

Upon analyzing Exhibit EFCC 2, it was discovered that Taiwo Abubakar, the account holder, distributed portions of the fraudulently obtained funds to several individuals listed in a schedule attached to the application.

Further investigation revealed that Oluwajuwon transferred ₦19,990,000 from his Heasy Enterprises account to Litano Pro Limited Resources (Acct No. 6355725703). The account statement of Litano Pro Limited Resources is attached and marked as Exhibit EFCC 3.

Additionally, Taiwo Abubakar transferred ₦11,000,000 (eleven million naira) to Nwezeocha E-N Enterprises (Acct No. 6342170336). The statement of account of Nwezeocha E-N Enterprises is attached and marked as Exhibit EFCC 4.

Further analysis showed that ₦11,440,000 (eleven million, four hundred and forty thousand naira) and ₦10,000,000 (ten million naira) were transferred to Chigozie Okpala (Acct No. 6395639693). The statement of account is attached and marked as Exhibit EFCC 5.

Another ₦10,000,000 (ten million naira) was transferred to Chukwudalu Jude Owulu.

Chukwueze explained that a BVN search revealed multiple accounts linked to the suspects, as detailed in an attached schedule. He emphasized that the order was essential to preserve the funds in these accounts pending the conclusion of the investigation.

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.