N1.4bn Fraud: Court Freezes Accounts of Seven Businessmen, Firms in Eight Banks

Wale Igbintade

Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has placed a ‘Post No Debit’ (PND) on the accounts of seven businessmen and four firms in eight banks pending investigation of  how N1,426,100,430 was fraudulently transferred from a Lebanese firm. The court granted the order following a motion ex parte moved and argued by the Department of State Security (DSS), through its counsel, Michael Bajela.

The order subsists for 90 days.

The complainant in the suit is Fouani Nigeria Limited while the respondents affected by the order and their bank details are: “Haruna Adam Abubakar – 1709985717 (Access Bank), Anthony Godwill Ifeanyi – 1236732473 (Access Bank), Tochukwu Modestus Obodoefuna -1565420706 (Access Bank), M. Munzali Dara Worldwide Business 5601060742 (Fidelily Bank), Anthony Ifeanyi Electronic Trading 5420158002 (Keystone Bank), Kholobekian Joseph Mesrob 1016886802 (UBA), Izuchukwu Stanley Alaman Jo 2137303667 (UBA), A.S. Rano Lubricant Toll Inv. Ltd 1305567771 (Providus Bank), Obioma Emeka Daniel 1005922923 (FCMB), Esto World Mega Venture Resources 2004467010 (Globus Bank) and Mubarak Buhari 8066868814 (Opay).”

The court thereafter adjourned further proceedings till November 22 for the report of compliance.

Post No Debit is a term used to describe a restriction imposed by banks on specific accounts, preventing customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or any other debits from their accounts.

In applying for the order, Bajela supported his application with an affidavit sworn by a DSS operative, Joshua Babalola.

Babalola averred that the applicant (DSS) received a petition from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) with the heading ‘Request for investigation into unauthorised fund transfers on Fouani Nigeria Limited Account.”

The petition was dated August 1, 2024, and signed by Richard Bello Chief Audit Executive and Olusola Odediran, Chief Information Security Officer.

“The petitioner claimed that the sum of (N1,426,100,430.00) was fraudulently transferred by the respondents from Fouani Nigeria Limited account number 0690342734 Access Bank, 0004018789 GTBank, 1010248929 Zenith Bank and 1004536508 (UBA Bank)

“The petitioners therefore plead with the Applicant to investigate the matter and also stop the respondents from removing the money from their various bank accounts mentioned in the face of our motion paper,” Babalola stated.