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 funds, domiciled in Access Bank, are linked to one Ifeanyi Alele David, who is currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged romance fraud and related cybercrime activities.
The order followed a motion on notice filed by the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, Ikoyi, through its counsel, C. C. Okezie.
The court had earlier, on February 26, 2026, granted an interim forfeiture order and directed the EFCC to publish same in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
While moving the application for final forfeiture, Okezie informed the court that the Commission complied with the directive by publishing the interim order in The Punch newspaper on April 10, 2026.
She further told the court that no individual or entity came forward within the stipulated period to challenge the forfeiture.
The application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by an EFCC operative, Samson Aguma, who outlined the findings of the Commission’s investigation.
According to the affidavit, the EFCC acted on a petition from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alleging that David was involved in a romance scam linked to the death of a United States citizen.
The affidavit stated that on September 15, 2021, a victim of the alleged scam died by suicide in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado, USA. Following the discovery of her body, law enforcement authorities reportedly recovered her mobile phone and found multiple messages exchanged with an individual identified as “Garry Micheal” via the Google Hangouts platform.
Investigations further revealed that the suspect allegedly solicited funds from the victim under false pretences, including claims that he needed money to secure his release from prison and facilitate his return to the United States.
It was further alleged that on the day of her death, the victim was pressured to send an additional $60,000 despite expressing severe financial distress.
The FBI, according to the affidavit, also established that the victim transferred approximately $154,500 between August 30 and September 13, 2021, through various channels linked to the scheme.
Aguma stated that forensic analysis of email accounts, IP addresses, telephone records and an Apple iCloud account traced to the fraud operation pointed to the defendant in Nigeria.
He added that the sum of N17,100,595.40 found in the defendant’s Access Bank account was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
After reviewing the submissions and affidavit evidence, Justice Owoeye held that the application was meritorious and ordered the final forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
