N905m in slush account: Court orders final forfeiture to EFCC

A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday ordered the final
forfeiture of N905, 941,696.87 in a suspicious account to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The suspected slush account was traced to a sole proprietorship
company, Rivlink International.

The inflows to the account were from the Rivers State
Environmental Sanitation Authority

But the owner of the company, Christian Robinson, is dead.

There were however indications that the cash might be returned
to the Rivers State Government by the anti-graft agency.

A source in EFCC said: “Following an application for interim
forfeiture order filed by the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim
Magu on February 13, 2018 before Justice Ijeoma L. Ojukwu of the
Federal High Court Abuja, the judge granted the request on February
21, 2018.

“But on Thursday (yesterday), the judge granted a final
forfeiture of o the sum of N905, 941,696.87 to the EFCC.

“The slush cash was discovered by the commission through the
assistance of a whistleblower who informed EFCC of the stashed
funds believed to belong to a late PDP chieftain who used anonymous
identity to hide the money in one of the new generation banks.

“We are happy that Justice Ojukwu has ordered final forfeiture
of the cash which nobody came forward to claim.

“After all formalities have been completed, the cash will be
returned to the Rivers State Government for public use.”

A fact-sheet on the case reads in part: “The EFCC received an
intelligence report on November 2, 2017 alleging that a sole
proprietorship firm, Rivlink International has huge inflows from
the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority in an account
0037728143 domiciled in GTB. The said account had a closing balance
of N905, 941,696.87.

“The company was registered in 2000 using a fictitious name of
one Christian Robinson. But the account was opened in 2001 as sole
proprietorship with Mr. Christian Robinson as the sole
proprietor.

“He however appointed Mr. Kenneth Koroma as the sole signatory
to the account for the purpose of money laundering.

“Covert intelligence revealed that the sole proprietor,
Christian Robinson, is late and the trustee, Kenneth Koroma has
been making frantic efforts to withdraw the funds which had been on
fixed deposit.

“Sometimes in June 2017, Koroma wrote GTB requesting it to
liquidate the fixed deposit and transfer the balance to an account
number 0037907856 of a company, OLF enterprise also operated by
him.

“Unknown to Koroma, the proprietor had changed him as a
signatory to Rivlink International account before he died.

“The bank insisted that it cannot release the N905m to Koroma
because he had ceased to be the sole signatory to the account of
Rivlink International. Relevant documents were shown to him on how
the owner of the company effected the change of signatory.”

“Following intelligence report and an alarm by the bank, EFCC
detectives decided to trace the inflows into the company’s
account.

“We discovered that the inflows were coming in bits into the
account of Rivlink over the years from the sanitation agency
without any evidence of contracts carried out.

“We are suspecting the account to be a slush type which cannot
be operated again because the sole proprietor is dead.”

A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday ordered the final
forfeiture of N905, 941,696.87 in a suspicious account to the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The suspected slush account was traced to a sole proprietorship
company, Rivlink International.

The inflows to the account were from the Rivers State
Environmental Sanitation Authority

But the owner of the company, Christian Robinson, is dead.

There were however indications that the cash might be returned
to the Rivers State Government by the anti-graft agency.

A source in EFCC said: “Following an application for interim
forfeiture order filed by the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim
Magu on February 13, 2018 before Justice Ijeoma L. Ojukwu of the
Federal High Court Abuja, the judge granted the request on February
21, 2018.

“But on Thursday (yesterday), the judge granted a final
forfeiture of o the sum of N905, 941,696.87 to the EFCC.

“The slush cash was discovered by the commission through the
assistance of a whistleblower who informed EFCC of the stashed
funds believed to belong to a late PDP chieftain who used anonymous
identity to hide the money in one of the new generation banks.

“We are happy that Justice Ojukwu has ordered final forfeiture
of the cash which nobody came forward to claim.

“After all formalities have been completed, the cash will be
returned to the Rivers State Government for public use.”

A fact-sheet on the case reads in part: “The EFCC received an
intelligence report on November 2, 2017 alleging that a sole
proprietorship firm, Rivlink International has huge inflows from
the Rivers State Environmental Sanitation Authority in an account
0037728143 domiciled in GTB. The said account had a closing balance
of N905, 941,696.87.

“The company was registered in 2000 using a fictitious name of
one Christian Robinson. But the account was opened in 2001 as sole
proprietorship with Mr. Christian Robinson as the sole
proprietor.

“He however appointed Mr. Kenneth Koroma as the sole signatory
to the account for the purpose of money laundering.

“Covert intelligence revealed that the sole proprietor,
Christian Robinson, is late and the trustee, Kenneth Koroma has
been making frantic efforts to withdraw the funds which had been on
fixed deposit.

“Sometimes in June 2017, Koroma wrote GTB requesting it to
liquidate the fixed deposit and transfer the balance to an account
number 0037907856 of a company, OLF enterprise also operated by
him.

“Unknown to Koroma, the proprietor had changed him as a
signatory to Rivlink International account before he died.

“The bank insisted that it cannot release the N905m to Koroma
because he had ceased to be the sole signatory to the account of
Rivlink International. Relevant documents were shown to him on how
the owner of the company effected the change of signatory.”

“Following intelligence report and an alarm by the bank, EFCC
detectives decided to trace the inflows into the company’s
account.

“We discovered that the inflows were coming in bits into the
account of Rivlink over the years from the sanitation agency
without any evidence of contracts carried out.

“We are suspecting the account to be a slush type which cannot
be operated again because the sole proprietor is dead.”