Invictus Group, a company owned by a convicted fraudster, Okeke Obinwanne has permanently forfeited the sum of N235, 451, 969.89 (Two Hundred and Thirty-five Million, Four Hundred and Fifty-one Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty-nine Naira, Eighty-nine Kobo).
The sum being money traced to the company’s account was forfeited following a court order by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Recall that Obinwanne the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Invictus Group, was arrested sometime in August 2019 in the United States of America and charged with two counts of computer fraud and wire fraud, to which he pleaded guilty.
An interim forfeiture of the money domiciled in First City Monument Bank (FCMB), was ordered by Justice Mohammed Liman on March 23, 2020, after an ex parte application dated December 18, 2019, by the Lagos Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
In granting the interim forfeiture order, the Judge had also ordered the EFCC to advertise the same in any national newspaper for anyone to show cause why the said money should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Following the publication of the order in a national newspaper, the EFCC on June 2, 2020, filed a Motion on Notice seeking the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.
During the proceedings on November 12, 2020, counsel to the EFCC, I. Sulaiman, urged the court to grant his prayers for the final forfeiture of the money, which is reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
In his ruling, Justice Liman granted the applicant’s prayers and also ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.
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