EFCC Applies for Interim Forfeiture of $2.8m Intercepted at Enugu Airport

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a motion at the Federal High Court in Enugu for temporary forfeiture of the $2.8 million intercepted at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, last Thursday.

A vacation judge at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, is expected to hear and decide the motion as well as the attached affidavit of urgency.

The agency also said it would be seeking an order to keep the two workers of Bankers’ Warehouse, who were arrested with the money in extended custody, adding that they were already providing the necessary information.

The acting EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade, also disclosed in Abuja yesterday that a third suspect, identified as Orji, had been detained in connection with the cash haul.

He explained that Orji brought a letter to the commission seeking its permission to move some money from Enugu to Lagos, adding that the EFCC operatives simply detained him for further investigation.

Orilade stated that no official of either Union Bank Plc which was claiming ownership of the $2.8 million or Bankers’ Warehouse, which was moving the money illegally had shown up at the commission to claim the money or explain the circumstances behind the mode of transfer.

According to him, the two workers of Bankers’ Warehouse in custody were not released because nobody came for their bail.

He further revealed that the commission would be probing the books of Bankers’ Warehouse to know the source of the confiscated cash.

Orilade said, “We would be checking the company’s books to know the source of the money. If it was from customers, they must show the vouchers and proof of ownership, including lodgments.

“If the money was from the (Union) bank, there must be records of such movement, who authorised the funds and for what purpose? The bank can’t coerce the commission to release the money; it has to show proof of ownership.”