The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the permanent forfeiture of $835,081.46 traced to the dollar wallet of SDQ Facilitators Limited, also known as Rexel Nigeria Limited (Leatherback), following a ruling that the funds were linked to illegal activities.
SDQ Facilitators is a user of Leatherback, a cross-border payment platform.
Justice Deinde Dipeolu granted the forfeiture order in favour of the federal government after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, filed an ex parte application.
The application, supported by an affidavit from EFCC investigating officer Abubakar Magaji, argued that the money was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
On December 10, 2024, the court initially granted an interim forfeiture order and instructed the EFCC to publish a notice in a national newspaper, allowing any interested party to contest the forfeiture within 14 days. No one came forward, leading to the final forfeiture ruling.
The EFCC’s application highlighted that the investigation was triggered by multiple petitions alleging fraudulent activity by Mr. Adegboyega Agbede, SDQ Facilitators Limited, and Rexel Nigeria Limited.
The petitions claimed that the suspects deceived the petitioners into believing they could sell $224,601,850.15 USD, ultimately obtaining N136,951,378,633 under false pretenses.
The suspects are accused of diverting these funds for personal use instead of fulfilling the agreed transactions.
The case involves a total of $8,113,366 USD obtained through fraudulent means.