A PRIMARY school teacher, Roseline Egbuha, and her accomplices have been ordered by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to forfeit N120 million traced to them by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
According to ICPC spokesperson Azuka Ogugua, the money and cars form part of the N540 million proceeds of crime traced to Egbuha, a teacher with Ozala Primary School, Abagana, Anambra State.
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“The teacher, who was on a monthly salary of N76,000 at the time of her arrest in 2020 by ICPC, had N540 million stashed in her bank account with Guaranty Trust Bank.
“Further investigations by ICPC revealed her alleged complicity in money laundering, thereby prompting the Commission to place a Post-No-Debit (PND) on the account.
“However, the PND was lifted by Egbuha and her accomplices with a court order purportedly from a Federal High Court, Abuja, and the money promptly split and moved into multiple bank accounts owned by Bureau de Change operators and private individuals,” the Commission said in a statement.
Egbuha’s accomplices, according to the ICPC, are James Erebouye, Emon Okune, Chisom Iwueke, Alonge Ojo, Maureen Chidimma, Owoyemi Mayowa and Ejeaka Ifeoma, as well as two private companies.
They were charged to court for involving in fraudulent activities and warehousing proceeds of crime.
Counsel to the ICPC, Adesina Raheem, in a motion exparte filed in 2021 before Justice D. U. Okorowo, alleged that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities stashed away in six new generation banks by Egbuha and her associates.
He prayed the court to order the final forfeiture of the money and cars to the Federal Government.
Justice Okorowo, after taking arguments from counsel to ICPC and the respondents, ruled that monies found in seven individual bank accounts and that of two private companies and items should be forfeited to the Federal Government.
“The forfeiture order includes N30.8 million in a Polaris Bank account of Dorason Construction Ltd, N17.4 million traced to a Sterling Bank account of James Erebouye and N16.4 million found in the Zenith Bank account of Dybako and Sons Nig Ltd.
“Another accomplice, Ojo Alonge, will also forfeit to the Federal Government N14.1 million traced to two separate accounts with First Bank and Ecobank, respectively. Owoyemi Mayowa, on her part, forfeited N7.1 million held in Zenith Bank,” the statement released by the ICPC spokesperson added.
The Commission said the final forfeiture order also includes the sum of N8.2 million, N9.7 million, N6.5 million and N122,100 kept in different bank accounts by Emon Okune, Chisom Iwueke, Maureen Chidimma and Ejeaka Ifeoma respectively.
Other items to be forfeited by the respondents are Toyota Lexus and Venza sport utility vehicles.
A reporter with the ICIR
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