EFCC secures interim forfeiture of 15 properties, $899,900 linked to suspended accountant-general

A federal capital territory high court has granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) interim forfeiture of money and properties recovered from Ahmed Idris, suspended accountant-general of the federation.

The forfeited items include a sum of $899,900; N304,490,160.95; and 15 properties in Kano and Abuja.

M.A. Hassan, the presiding judge, gave the order on December 13, 2022, while ruling on a motion ex parte marked M/1149/2022, filed by the EFCC.

The commission had prayed the court to grant temporary forfeiture pending the determination of the criminal charge (suit FCT HC/CR/299/2022) against the suspended accountant-general.

The commission further prayed the court for an order “to open an interest-yielding account where monies realised from the management of the assets and properties of the persons stated in the Schedule to this application shall be paid”, pending the determination of the substantive case.

An order “freezing the bank accounts of the persons referred to as account holders/or the bank accounts set out in the schedule to this application”, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive case, was also sought by the EFCC.

The judge granted the motion as prayed but ordered that the recovery account sought to be opened by the EFCC “shall be in the name of the commission as Recovery Account and the details of the account shall be reported back to the court within one week of opening”.

The properties linked to Idris which were listed in the schedule for forfeiture include Kano City Mall/Al Ikhlas Shopping Mall at Mandwawarti, Kano; one-storey shopping complex at Ladanai, Kano; Corner Shops at Ladanai, Kano; a duplex at Karsana, Abuja; Royal Duplex at Deneji Quarters, Kano and a Duplex at Plot 271, New Jersey Street, Efab Blue Fountain Estate, Abuja.

Nine properties linked to the second respondent, Mohammed Kudu Usman, which are located in Abuja, Niger and Nasarawa states, were also ordered forfeited in the interim.

They include plots of land with shops in Chanchaga LGA of Niger state; a 37 hectares of farmland with livestock located along Minna-Bida road in Niger state; bungalow flats at Gwarimpa, Abuja; bungalow buildings at Masaka, Nasarawa state; plots of land at Dutse Alhaji Abuja, and 13 plots of land at Integrated City, Minna, Niger state.

In May, TheCable reported how Idris was arrested in Kano after he failed to respond to invitations by the commission to answer questions over alleged N80 billion fraud.

Some days later, Idris was suspended indefinitely “without pay” by Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning.

In July, he was arraigned alongside Godfrey Olusegun Akindele and Mohammed Kudu Usman, as well as a firm — Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.

The EFCC said Idris and his co-defendants are indicted on a 14-count charge of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109.5 billion.