Court orders interim forfeiture of houses, cars linked to convicted fraudster, Invictus Obi

Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Friday ordered the interim forfeiture of houses and cars linked to the Chief Executive Officer of Invictus Group, Obinwanne Okeke aka Invictus Obi.

Okeke, who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at Dulles International Airport, the United States in connection with $11 million fraud in August 2019, was sentenced to a 10-year jail term for his involvement in internet fraud in February.

Justice Lifu gave the order in his ruling in an application for forfeiture of Okeke’s assets filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the application which was supported by an affidavit sworn by one of its investigators, Usman Abdulhamid, the commission argued that the application was necessary in a bid to provide restitution to victims of the fraud through the US consulate.

READ ALSO: $11M SCAM: Invictus Obi pleads guilty in US, may face 20 years in prison

According to Abdulhamid, the assets in question were not acquired through the convict’s legitimate earnings.

He said: “On further investigation by the commission, two more properties were traced belonging to the convict, along with two vehicles parked in the residence.”

In his ruling, the judge ordered that houses and cars in Abuja linked with Okeke should be temporarily forfeited.

He ordered EFCC to publish the order in a widely read newspaper in Nigeria within 14 days to enable interested parties to come forward with arguments on why the assets should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

Justice Lifu adjourned the case till November 30 for the final ruling on the application.

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