Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court in Lagos State has ordered the forfeiture of 2,149 pieces of jewellery, a customised gold iPhone valued at $40m belonging to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The judge ordered that the items should be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.
The forfeiture order followed an ex parte application moved on Friday morning by a lawyer for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo.
In the application, the EFCC noted that the expensive jewellery comprising wristwatches, necklaces, bracelets, bangles, earrings and more were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities of the former Minister.
The application, titled action in rem, had Diezani as the only defendant and it was filed pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other related Offences Act No. 14, 2006.
The EFCC said in the application that it found and recovered the jewellery and the customised gold iPhone “on the premises of the respondent,” adding that it reasonably suspected that the former minister acquired them with “proceeds of unlawful activities.”
