Justice Nnamdi Dimg alt=’Court bars FG from seizing funds in accounts
without BVN’ class=’img-responsive text-center’ style=’margin: auto;’ba
of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, today stopped the
Federal Government’s bid to seize funds in all accounts without the Bank
Verification Number, BVN.
Justice Dimg alt=’Court bars FG from seizing funds in accounts
without BVN’ class=’img-responsive text-center’ style=’margin: auto;’ba,
said the FG failed to fulfill certain condition precedents that would
entitle it to secure final forfeiture order in respect of funds in such
accounts. He added that the FG failed to comply with section 17 of the
Advanced Fee Fraud. He maintained that for FG to succeed in obtaining
final forfeiture order, it must be proved that funds in such accounts
were abandoned or unclaimed, were products of unlawful activity, as well
as an advert placed for anyone laying claim to such funds to come
forward.
The judge said the Federal government did not provide any evidence to
prove that funds in the accounts were proceeds of crime, nor indicated
efforts it made to ensure that banks complied with interim orders of the
court.
It will be recalled that the court had in an ex-parte order it made
on October 17, 2017, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and 19
commercial banks in the country to disclose all accounts in their
custody without BVN and amounts in them.
The court further granted an interim order directing the banks to
freeze funds in such accounts by stopping “all outward payments,
operations or transactions”, pending the hearing of the substantive
application that was filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, seeking permanent forfeiture of
funds in such accounts to FG.