A federal high court in Abuja has granted an interim order to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to freeze four cryptocurrency wallets worth $37 million for money laundering.
Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, granted the order while ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by the EFCC.
The ruling was delivered on August 8, according to the certified true copy seen by TheCable on Tuesday.
Based on the document, the commission sought to freeze a total of 37,061,867,869.3 cryptocurrency.
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Out of the total amount, the lion’s share of the assets is USDT 37 million, followed by USDT 443,512.37, USDT 967, and USDT 90.
The hearing featured a dialogue between the judge and O.S. Ujam, EFCC’s lawyer, on the application — without any opposing arguments or objections being presented.
The EFCC said the assets are proceeds of money laundering and terrorism financing.
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“That an order of this honourable court is hereby made freezing the wallet addresses/accounts stated in the schedule below, which wallets are owned by individuals currently being investigated for offences of money laundering and terrorism financing, pending the conclusion of the investigation,” the judge ruled.
The agency, however, did not reveal the identities of the wallet owners in its application.
On April 19, a federal high court in Abuja had granted an order to EFCC to freeze at least 1,146 bank accounts belonging to individuals and companies over “unauthorised foreign exchange” transactions.
The commission was also investigating the individuals and companies for “money laundering and terrorism financing”.
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