Court Orders Forfeiture of Assets in Ponzi Scheme Case

On a recent ruling, the Federal High Court in Lafia, Nasarawa State, presided over by Justice M.O. Olajuwon, ordered the final forfeiture of various assets linked to an alleged Ponzi scheme operated by Theophilus Oloch.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presented sufficient evidence to establish that the assets were proceeds of unlawful activities. The forfeited assets include a 23-room hotel, an event center, a sachet water factory, and cash amounting to N1,005,489.27 found in a First Bank account linked to Oloch.

Justice Olajuwon noted that the EFCC met the legal threshold under Section 17(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act. The court emphasized that once the EFCC established reasonable suspicion, the burden shifted to the respondent to justify the legitimacy of the assets, which Oloch failed to do.

The court subsequently granted the EFCC's application to transfer ownership of the forfeited assets to the federal government.