RismadarVoice Reporters
June 1, 2026
Justice A.O. Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of N17,100,595.40 to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The funds, domiciled in an account with Access Bank Plc, are linked to Ifeanyi Alele David, who is under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged romance fraud and related criminal activities.
The order was granted on Monday, June 1, 2026, following a motion on notice filed by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 through its counsel, C.C. Okezie.
The court had earlier, on February 26, 2026, issued an interim forfeiture order on the funds and directed the commission to publish the order in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
While arguing the application for final forfeiture, Okezie informed the court that the commission complied with the publication directive by publishing the notice in The Punch newspaper on April 10, 2026.
She further stated that no individual or organisation came forward within the stipulated period to challenge the forfeiture proceedings.
According to Okezie, the application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by an EFCC operative, Samson Aguma, detailing the findings of the commission’s investigation.
The affidavit disclosed that the EFCC received 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.
According to the investigation, a romance fraud victim died by suicide in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado, on September 15, 2021. Following the discovery of the victim’s body, law enforcement officers reportedly recovered a mobile device containing multiple messages exchanged with an individual identified as “Garry Micheal” through the Google Hangouts application.
Investigators alleged that the suspect repeatedly solicited money from the victim under various false pretences, including requests for funds to secure his release from prison and facilitate his return to the United States.
The affidavit further stated that on the day of the victim’s death, the suspect allegedly requested an additional $60,000 despite being informed of the victim’s severe financial difficulties.
According to the FBI investigation, the victim transferred approximately $154,500 between August 30 and September 13, 2021, through channels connected to the alleged fraudulent scheme.
Aguma stated that forensic analysis of email accounts, IP addresses, telephone records and an Apple iCloud account allegedly traced the activities to David in Nigeria.
He added that the N17,100,595.40 discovered in David’s Access Bank account was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities connected to the alleged fraud.
After considering the submissions of the EFCC and reviewing the affidavit evidence presented, Justice Owoeye held that the application had merit and consequently ordered the final forfeiture of the N17.1 million to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
