The federal high court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of digital assets worth $222,729 in USDT seized from some Chinese nationals.
Alexander Owoeye, the trial judge, on Monday, ordered the final forfeiture of the digital assets after an application moved by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The anti-graft agency said the digital wallet assets were recovered from the syndicate of 792 suspected fraudsters arrested for cryptocurrency and romance scams.
In February, the court ordered the interim forfeiture of the digital assets to the federal government.
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The court had also ordered the EFCC to publish the notice in a national newspaper to allow anyone with an interest in the assets 14 days to appear before the court and explain why they should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
During the court proceedings on Monday, Zeenat Atiku, EFCC counsel, told the court that the application for final forfeiture was supported by an affidavit deposed by Muazu Abdulrahman, an investigating officer of the EFCC.
The EFCC counsel said Abdulrahman discovered that the syndicate financed its operations through Genting International Co. Limited (GICL), a Nigerian-registered company.
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“Over the course of its activities, this company’s Union Bank account 0225100403 received a staggering sum of over N2,268,839,161 (Two Billion, Two Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million, Eight Hundred Thirty-Nine Thousand, One Hundred Sixty-One Naira) from April 12, 2024 to December 23, 2024,” the affidavit reads.
“An analysis of the company’s bank statement revealed that the primary inflows into the account originated from two cryptocurrency vendors: Chukwuemeka Okeke and Alhassan Aminu Garba.
“Furthermore, Okeke and Garba were invited for questioning and they willingly provided their statements under caution.
“They reported that they received a total USDT valued at $2,386,642 from the syndicates, resulting from USDT purchased through peer-to-peer trading.
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“They also identified the wallet addresses utilized by the group for transferring funds (USDTs).”
After the application was moved, Owoeye ordered the final forfeiture of the digital assets to the federal government.
