Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of about N850 million, luxury properties, and vehicles to the Federal government in a fraud case instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The judge granted the order on Tuesday after upholding a Non-Conviction Based (NCB) forfeiture suit filed by the EFCC against one Stanley Akaria Chinemerem, who was accused of defrauding his employer, a Lagos-based cosmetics dealer, Mr. Godwin Uche Okearafor.
In its ruling, the court held that the EFCC had sufficiently established that the assets were proceeds of unlawful activities and that no interested party came forward to challenge the forfeiture despite public notice.
Addressing the court earlier, counsel for the anti-graft agency, Zeenat Atiku, told the judge that investigations uncovered fraudulent transactions totaling approximately N850 million, traced from Okearafor’s accounts to several bank accounts operated by Chinemerem, who reportedly earned a monthly salary of just N90,000.
According to the Commission, Chinemerem abused his position as an employee by manipulating post-dated cheques issued by customers, diverting the funds into his personal accounts without authorisation.
The assets forfeited include a fully detached six-bedroom duplex located on Nnabuinyi Street, Amuwo-Odofin, two undeveloped plots of land in Onireke Town, also in Amuwo-Odofin, and two luxury vehicles — a 2012 black Toyota Highlander and a 2018 red Toyota Venza.
In addition, the court ordered the forfeiture of funds across 28 bank accounts maintained with several financial institutions, including Access Bank, FCMB, Zenith Bank, Globus Bank, Palmpay, and Fidelity Bank.
The EFCC disclosed that the suspect allegedly laundered the funds through multiple bank accounts and converted portions into digital assets before acquiring high-value properties and vehicles.
The anti-graft agency added that some of the assets were voluntarily surrendered to the Commission following an interim forfeiture order issued on December 12, 2025.
Justice Aneke had earlier directed the EFCC to publish the interim order in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to contest the forfeiture.