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A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has ordered the interim forfeiture of the sum of N1,000,494,000 by Magel Resort Limited, a company linked to former First Lady, Patience Jonathan, to the Federal Government.
Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa issued the order on January 16 consequent upon a motion ex parte filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The money, according to the EFCC, was lodged in Fidelity Bank on May 20 and 25, 2015.
In a statement on Friday, the agency said it had gotten an intel that a bank account domiciled in the bank, had a huge sum of money that was not being used by anybody.
It continued: “Upon receipt of the intelligence, the EFCC swung into action by conducting preliminary investigation, which revealed that Patience and some relatives of former president, Goodluck Jonathan were directors of the Company. Others named as directors are Oba Oba Tamunotonye, Goodluck Jonathan Aruera, Goodluck Jonathan Ariwabai and Esther Fynface.
“In trying to trace the origin of the money, it was discovered that N500,000 was deposited on the 20th of May, 2015 by Fynface, who is alleged to be in charge of the Company, while N1 billion (One Billion Naira Only) was transferred in two tranches on the 25th May, 2015 from PAGMAT OIL AND GAS NIGERIA LIMITED a company that was not incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
Justice Lewis-Allagoa ordered that the forfeited sum be deposited in the Treasury Single Account of the Federal Government.
See copies of the order below: