CRIME: COURT JAILS US-BOUND TRAVELLER FOR UNDECLARED $20,000, ORDERS FORFEITURE TO FG
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Olusola Okunfulure, a traveler headed to the United States, was found guilty of money laundering and given a three-month prison sentence by the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday.
Additionally, the defendant was ordered by Justice Deinde Dipeolu to forfeit to the Federal Government the $20,000 that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) had taken from him.
When Okunfulure failed to declare the sum of $20,000, NCS officials detained him on March 28, 2025, when he was clearing passengers for an evening flight to the United States via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
He was promptly turned over for additional investigation to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 in Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, Lagos.
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The EFCC arraigned him before the court on Wednesday on a one-count charge bordering on money laundering.
The count reads: “That you, Okunfulure Olusola Steve, on the 28th day of March, 2025 in Lagos, within the Jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, failed to make a declaration of the sum of $20,000 (Twenty Thousand United States Dollars) to the Nigerian Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, and thereby committed an offence Contrary to and Punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”.
When the accusation was read to him, the defendant entered a plea of “guilty.”
The EFCC was then asked to produce its evidence against the defendant by Justice Dipeolu.
The EFCC called one of its agents, Felicia Paul, to go over the case’s facts through its attorney, Chineye Okezie.
As she described how she came to know the defendant, Paul informed the court that on Friday, March 28, 2025, the NCS turned him over to the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2.
The agent also informed the court that the defendant had been arrested with $30,000 that he had neglected to disclose. She also informed the court that “his statement was served with the bail conditions and was recorded under caution.”
Thereafter, she identified the defendant’s statement, the handing-over note from the NCS, the arresting officer’s statement as well and the sum of $30,000(Thirty Thousand US Dollars) to the EFCC.
Okezie then sought to tender, in evidence, the documents.
Justice Dipeolu admitted and marked them as exhibits 1,2,3, and 4 and held, “I have read the exhibits, the statement of the defendant, and I found him guilty. He is accordingly convicted as charged.”
Since a traveller is allowed by law to have $10,000 in his possession without declaration, the EFCC’s counsel asked the court to forfeit to the Federal Government of Nigeria the undeclared sum of $20,000.
The commission also asked that the defendant be jailed.
Defence counsel, Joel Ogundire, while addressing the court, said that the defendant “is a first-time offender and is not aware of the disclosure policy. He is a family man who has responsibilities. His bank account shows the legitimacy of the funds.”
He also asked the court to “magnanimously waive any prison sentence”, adding that the convict would not mind forfeiting the sum of money or pay a fine.
Upholding the EFCC’s case, Justice Dipeolu convicted and sentenced Okunfulure to three months imprisonment with effect from the date of his arrest on March 28, 2025. The Judge also ordered that the money be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The judge said, “I have considered the plea of the convict and the fact that he did not waste the time of the court as well as all the mitigating factors.
“I hereby order the convict to forfeit the sum of $20,000 to the Federal Government of Nigeria and for his imprisonment for three months”.
The convict, Okunfulure, was a departing passenger on Delta Airlines to Atlanta, United States. While being profiled at the Currency Declaration Desk, the NCS discovered that he had failed to declare the foreign currency in his possession.
He claimed he did not know that he ought to declare the money.
The anti-graft agency told the court that the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 3(5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
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