Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of assets worth millions of naira recovered from a foreign fraud syndicate.
Gatekeepers News reports that the assets include 1,596 computers and laptops, 4,091 phones, seven vehicles, and about 70 other items seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during a sting operation on December 10, 2024.
The EFCC had arrested 792 persons, including 193 foreign nationals and 599 Nigerians, at their hideout in Big Leaf Building, Victoria Island, Lagos, for alleged cryptocurrency investment, computer-related fraud, money laundering, and romance fraud.
The commission claimed that the syndicate financed its activities through Genting International Co. Limited and that the assets were “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity”.
Justice Deinde Dipeolu granted the order, instructing the EFCC to publish the order in a national newspaper and allowing anyone interested in the assets to appear in court within 14 days to show cause why they should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
