A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of $835,081.46 traced to the dollar wallet of SDQ Facilitators Limited on the Leatherback platform, also known as Rexel Nigeria Limited.
The ruling follows allegations of fraudulent diversion of funds and obtaining money under false pretences by the company’s executives, Adegboyega Agbede and Lawal Mohammed Kazeem.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had filed an ex parte application before Justice Deinde Dipeolu, seeking the permanent forfeiture of the funds.
The court granted the request after no interested party came forward to challenge an earlier interim forfeiture order.
The EFCC’s application was brought under Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.
According to an affidavit deposed to by EFCC investigator Abubakar Magaji, the forfeited funds were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
The petitioners alleged that the suspects fraudulently obtained a total of $8,113,366 from them under the false representation that they had $224,601,850.15 to sell.
Further investigations revealed that the suspects collected a cumulative sum of ₦136,951,378,633 from the victims, promising to deliver the dollar equivalent.
However, after receiving the funds, they allegedly failed to provide the agreed foreign exchange or refund the naira, instead diverting the money for personal use.
On December 10, 2024, the court had issued an interim forfeiture order and directed the EFCC to publish the order in a national newspaper, inviting any interested party to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the government.
Since no one came forward within the 14-day period, the court proceeded with the final forfeiture ruling.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by the EFCC to crack down on financial crimes, particularly fraudulent foreign exchange transactions that exploit unsuspecting victims.
The forfeited funds will now be transferred to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
