Court Grants Interim Forfeiture Of Properties Linked To Ex AGF

A Federal  High Court sitting in Abuja has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interim forfeiture of money and properties recovered from Ahmed Idris, suspended accountant-general of the federation.

The forfeited items include a sum of $899,900; N304,490,160.95; and 15 properties in Kano and Abuja.

The presiding judge, M.A Hassan gave the order on December 13, 2022, while ruling on a motion ex parte marked M/1149/2022, filed by the EFCC.

The commission had prayed the court to grant temporary forfeiture pending the determination of the criminal charge (suit FCT HC/CR/299/2022) against the suspended accountant-general.

The commission further prayed the court for an order “to open an interest-yielding account where monies realised from the management of the assets and properties of the persons stated in the Schedule to this application shall be paid”, pending the determination of the substantive case.

An order “freezing the bank accounts of the persons referred to as account holders/or the bank accounts set out in the schedule to this application”, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive case, was also sought by the EFCC.

The judge granted the motion as prayed but ordered that the recovery account sought to be opened by the EFCC “shall be in the name of the commission as Recovery Account and the details of the account shall be reported back to the court within one week of opening”.

The properties linked to Idris which were listed in the schedule for forfeiture include Kano City Mall/Al Ikhlas Shopping Mall at Mandwawarti, Kano; one-storey shopping complex at Ladanai, Kano; Corner Shops at Ladanai, Kano; a duplex at Karsana, Abuja; Royal Duplex at Deneji Quarters, Kano and a Duplex at Plot 271, New Jersey Street, Efab Blue Fountain Estate, Abuja.