High court rules against retired air vice marshal asking him to forfeit property and cash to government

FORMER chairman of the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security Air Vice Marshal Saliu Atwodi has had to forfeit property and cash to the federal government after a high court ruled today that they were the proceeds of crime.

Ruling on the long-running case, Justice Emeka Anwuli Chikere of the federal high court in Abuja ordered the final forfeiture of the property and cash belonging to Marshal Atwodi and his wife Winnie.  Measuring about 57933.69 square metres, the property being forfeited, controlled by Vector Integrated Services, is located at No 3004 Cadastral Zone E05, Aviation Village District in Abuja.

Cash sums recovered in the case brought to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), include $228,428 and N120, 546,042.02. In his ruling, Justice Chikere held that the EFCC proved beyond reasonable doubt that the property and said amount are proceeds of crime as defined by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act of 2011.

Furthermore, the judge noted that, in the absence of any objection to the notice of interim forfeiture published for interested parties to show cause why the assets should not be finally forfeited, the property and cash now belong to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Prosecuting Marshal Atwodi, the EFCC had filed an application pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, No14, 2006.