Tunde Bakare
Justice A.O. Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, June 1, 2026, ordered the final forfeiture of the sum of N17,100,595.40 to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The forfeited fund, domiciled in Access Bank, is linked to one Ifeanyi Alele David, who is under investigation for alleged romance fraud and related criminal activities by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The judge issued the order, following a motion on notice filed by the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, Ikoyi, through its counsel, C.C.Okezie.
The court had, on February 26, 2026, granted an interim forfeiture order of the fund and directed the Commission to publish the order in a national newspaper to enable any interested person or entity to show cause why it should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
While moving the application for the final forfeiture, Okezie informed the court that the Commission complied with the publication order by publishing the interim forfeiture notice in The Punch newspaper on April 10, 2026.
Okezie also stated that no individual or entity came forward within the stipulated period to contest the forfeiture.
She further stated that the application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by an EFCC operative, Samson Aguma, who detailed the findings of the Commission’s investigation.
According to the affidavit, the EFCC received a petition from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, alleging that David was involved in a romance scam scheme connected to the tragic death of a United States of American citizen.
According to him, on September 15, 2021, a romance fraud victim committed suicide in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado, USA.
Following the discovery of her body, law enforcement officers recovered her mobile device and observed multiple messages from an individual identified as “Garry Micheal” through the Google Hangouts application.
Investigations further revealed that the suspect repeatedly solicited funds from the victim under various false pretences, including requests for money to secure his release from prison and facilitate his return to the United States.
The affidavit disclosed that on the day the victim took her own life, the suspect allegedly demanded an additional sum of $60,000 from her, despite her expressing severe financial distress and indicating that she had exhausted her resources.
Further investigations by the FBI allegedly established that the victim sent approximately $154,500
between August 30 and September 13, 2021, through various channels connected to the fraudulent scheme.
Aguma stated that forensic analysis traced email accounts, internet protocol (IP) addresses, telephone records, and an Apple iCloud account linked to the romance fraud activities to David in Nigeria.
He further disclosed that the sum of N17,100,595.40 found in David’s Access Bank account was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and formed part of the funds derived from the fraudulent scheme.
After listening to the submissions of the EFCC and reviewing the affidavit evidence before the court, Justice Owoeye held that the application had merit and consequently ordered the final forfeiture of the sum of N17,100,595.40 to the Federal Government of Nigeria.