Court Orders Banks To Forfeit Diezani’s Allegedly Stolen $153m To FG

Justice Muslim Hassan of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the temporary forfeiture of the sum of $153,310,000, which former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueze, allegedly siphoned from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and stashed in three banks.

Justice Hassan gave the order while hearing an ex-parte application by the EFCC seeking the temporary forfeiture of the funds allegedly stolen by the former Minister.

The court head that out of the allegedly stolen $153.3m, N23,446, 300,000 was reportedly stashed in Sterling Bank Plc, N9,080,000,000 in First Bank Plc and $5m in Access Bank Plc.

After ordering the temporary forfeiture of the monies to the Federal Government, the presiding judge also ordered all the banks mentioned to appear before him within 14 days to prove the legitimacy of the monies lodged with them or otherwise get them permanently forfeited to the Federal government. 

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