- A Federal High Court judge has ordered that the Lagos State Government Number Plate Production Authority’s bank account be frozen
- This follows the discovery of a N3bn fraud allegedly committed by officials of the agency during the tenure of Folorunsho Coker
- Coker’s wife was also linked to the alleged fraud; as the EFCC discovered that a law firm which lists her as its proprietor was one of the companies used to divert the money
A bank account belonging to the Lagos State Government Number Plate Production Authority has been frozen, on the orders of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, Channels reports.
An alleged N3bn fraud committed by officials of the agency was what led to the court’ order.
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NAIJ.com gathers that the order was given on Monday, March 5, by the presiding judge, Mohammed Idris, following an ex-parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Idris ruled that the account should remain frozen until the EFCC concludes its investigation into the matter.
32 other bank accounts belonging to companies which were allegedly used to divert the N3 billion from the agency were also affected by the freezing order.
The EFCC, in an affidavit attached to the ex-parte application, disclosed that the alleged diversion of funds took place when Folorunsho Coker was the agency’s managing director.
A law firm, Rimi and Partners, is among the companies whose accounts were frozen.
According to the EFCC, Coker’s wife, Aisha Rimi, is a sole proprietor of the firm.
The other companies whose accounts were frozen are SW Properties Limited; Imira Trade and Global Services Limited; Ekosina Investment Limited; Lofty Investment Nigeria Limited; Pure Technical Services Limited; and Cablepoint Limited.
Olamide Sodiq, an EFCC investigator, disclosed that intelligence received from the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, sometime in 2017, was what led to the probe.
Sodiq revealed that the intelligence reported that there had been “heavy inflows in excess of N3billion from the Lagos State Government Number Plate Production Authority,” into the account of Rimi and Partners.
According to the investigator, the EFCC had discovered that the firm had 10 bank accounts.
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In a related development, NAIJ.com previously reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said it traced N603m to Mrs Esther Habu, the wife of Josiah Habu, who is the director of the Bioresources Development Centre in Bayelsa state.
The BIODEC was established in 2003 by the National Biotechnology Development Agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology as an intervention programme of the federal government aimed at developing the natural resources of Nigeria for use in agriculture, health, environment and industry.
According to the EFCC, investigations showed that Esther was given suspicious contracts; even as a total sum of N603, 000,000 was traced to her in different deals involving over 20 directors of the agency across the country.
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Source: Naija.ng