COURT ORDERS FINAL FORFEITURE OF 48 PROPERTIES LINKED TO EX-AGF MALAMI
Read Time:2 Minute, 21 Second
By; Sunmola Ganiyat
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of 48 properties linked to former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to the Federal Government.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had established the reasonable suspicion required by law to justify the forfeiture of the assets.
The court ruled that Malami, his family members and companies connected to the properties failed to disprove the EFCC’s claim that the assets were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
Before delivering the substantive judgment, Justice Abdulmalik dismissed several applications and motions filed by the respondents, describing them as lacking merit.
She stressed that the central issue before the court was not ownership of the properties but the legitimacy of the funds used to acquire them.
“The issue before the court is not who owns the property, but how legitimate are the funds used to acquire the property,” the judge said.
According to her, the respondents failed to rebut the reasonable suspicion that the assets were acquired through unlawful means.
Relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, the court granted the EFCC’s request for final forfeiture of the properties.
However, Justice Abdulmalik discharged the interim forfeiture order in respect of some of the assets.
The EFCC had in January initiated civil forfeiture proceedings seeking the permanent forfeiture of 57 properties valued at N212.8 billion, alleging that they were proceeds of unlawful activities linked to the former AGF.
On January 16, Justice Emeka Nwite granted an interim forfeiture order and directed the anti-graft agency to publish the order in a national newspaper to allow interested parties to challenge the application.
The properties are located in Abuja, Kano, Kebbi and Kaduna states.
Following the publication, Malami, his wife, Nana Hadiza Malami, his son, Abdulaziz Abubakar Malami, and several companies linked to the assets challenged the interim forfeiture order.
They argued that the properties were lawfully acquired and maintained that the EFCC failed to establish any connection between the assets and alleged unlawful activities.
The respondents also contended that the commission relied on speculation rather than credible evidence and did not identify any specific offence from which the assets were allegedly derived.
At the hearing, EFCC counsel argued that investigations revealed the properties were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities and held in the names of individuals and companies acting as fronts for Malami.
The commission further maintained that civil forfeiture proceedings only require proof of reasonable suspicion rather than proof beyond reasonable doubt.
After adopting their final written addresses in May, both parties awaited judgment, which was initially scheduled for July 6 but postponed twice before the court delivered its ruling on Wednesday.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0