More trouble for Diezani as court orders forfeiture of 2 additional properties linked to her

The Federal High Court in Lagos Tuesday ordered the temporary forfeiture of two additional properties in Lagos linked to Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources.

The properties in question are valued at $4.76m according to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC listed the properties as Penthouse 21 building 5, Block C, 11th floor, Bella Vista Estate, Banana Island, Ikoyi and Penthouse 22, Block B, Admiralty Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Counsel for the EFCC, Anselem Ozioko, said the anti-graft agency had reasonable grounds to believe that the properties were acquired with proceeds of alleged unlawful activities of Diezani.

After entertaining an ex parte application by the EFCC counsel, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun ordered the temporary forfeiture of the properties.

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Those listed as defendants in available court papers are Diezani, Donald Amagbo, Schillenburg LLC, and Sequoyah Property Limited, as respondents.

The Tuesday’s temporary forfeiture order came about two months after the same Federal High Court ordered the permanent forfeiture of 58 houses linked to the ex-minister, who is currently in the United Kingdom, where she is also being probed for alleged corruption.

The 58 houses which were ordered by Justice Abdulaziz Anka on October 11, 2017 to be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government are scattered across Lagos and Port Harcourt.

The EFCC claimed that the ex-minister acquired them between 2011 and 2013 using different companies as fronts.

The value of the properties was put at $21,982,224.

Earlier in February last year, Justice Muslim Hassan of the same court had ordered the forfeiture of a sum of $153,310,000 said to have been hidden by the ex-minister in three commercial banks in the country.

 

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