Court orders forfeiture of house, funds belonging to Gov Abiodun’s ex-aide, Rufai, over $350k fraud

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of the funds and properties traced to Abidemi Ganiyu Rufai, the suspended aide of the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, who is currently facing charges of fraud in the United States.

The order, given by Justice Tijjani Ringim on Tuesday, was sequel to an ex parte motion filed by a counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC), Ebuka Okongwu.

According to the order, Rufai’s property located at House 11, Omodayo Awotuga Street, Bera Estate, Chevy View, Lekki, Lagos, and funds in his accounts domiciled in two banks, are to be forfeited to the Federal Government.

In the suit filed by EFCC, the anti-graft agency joined Rufai, his firm Omo Mayodele Global Investment and one commercial bank as 1st, 2nd and third respondents.

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Okongwu furnished the judge with an affidavit sworn to by an EFCC investigator, Usman Abdulhamid, detailing the agency’s investigation of Rufai in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

According to the affidavit, the investigator stated that Rufai had already debauched a suspicious N29.37million in tranches of N5,000,000, N5,000,000, N2,730,000, N1,100,000, N2,040,000, N2,000,000, N2,000,000 and N5,000,000, into his accounts, warehoused in three banks.

Ripples Nigeria reported that Rufai was arrested by the FBI at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport in New York on May 14, over his alleged involvement in a $350,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud from Washington State Employment Security Department, in the United States.

He was indicted for alleged conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Justice Ringim in a bench ruling granted the EFCC’s order as prayed in the motion ex parte.

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