By SCM Correspondent
LAGOS — Justice A.O. Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, June 1, 2026, ordered the final forfeiture of N17,100,595.40 to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The money, which was discovered domiciled in an Access Bank account, is directly linked to an internet fraud suspect, Ifeanyi Alele David, currently under intense investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for his alleged involvement in an international romance scam and related cyber-criminal activities.
The final forfeiture order followed a motion on notice filed by the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, Ikoyi. The anti-graft agency, represented by its legal counsel, C.C. Okezie, successfully argued that the funds were the proceeds of unlawful activities, specifically targeted at vulnerable foreign nationals.
The legal battle over the illicit funds began months earlier. On February 26, 2026, the court had granted an interim forfeiture order on the said ₦17.1 million. In line with standard judicial procedures designed to protect the rights of potential claimants, Justice Owoeye directed the anti-graft commission to publish the interim order in a national newspaper.
This directive was intended to give any interested party, individual, or corporate entity the window to appear before the court and show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Nigerian government.
While moving the application for the final forfeiture on Monday, the EFCC counsel, Okezie, informed the court that the commission had strictly complied with the judicial directive. She noted that the interim forfeiture notice was published in The Punch newspaper on April 10, 2026.
Okezie further emphasized that despite the public notice, no individual, group, or entity came forward within the statutory stipulated period to contest the forfeiture or claim ownership of the money.
She added that the application for final forfeiture was heavily supported by a comprehensive affidavit deposed to by an operative of the EFCC, Samson Aguma, which meticulously detailed the shocking findings of the commission’s investigation.
The details contained in the EFCC affidavit painted a grim picture of cross-border cybercrime, extortion, and psychological manipulation.
According to Aguma, the trouble for Ifeanyi Alele David began after the EFCC received a high-profile petition from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.
The American law enforcement agency alleged that David was the mastermind behind a complex romance scam scheme that ultimately culminated in the tragic death of a United States citizen.
The affidavit revealed that on September 15, 2021, an American woman, who had fallen victim to the suspect’s romance fraud, committed suicide in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado. Following the discovery of her body, local U.S. law enforcement officers recovered her mobile device and launched a forensic analysis.
The digital trail uncovered multiple text and chat messages from an individual operating under the pseudonym “Garry Michael” through the Google Hangouts application.
Investigators established that the digital persona “Garry Michael” was a front used to prey on the victim.
“The suspect repeatedly solicited funds from the victim under various false pretences, including desperate requests for money to secure his release from prison and facilitate his return to the United States.”
The investigation took a darker turn when it was discovered that on the very day the victim took her own life, the suspect allegedly demanded an additional sum of $60,000 from her.
This demand was aggressively pushed despite the victim explicitly expressing severe financial distress, emotional breakdown, and indicating to the suspect that she had completely exhausted her life resources.
Further deep-dive investigations conducted by the FBI established that the desperate victim had sent approximately $154,500 between August 30 and September 13, 2021, alone.
The funds were funneled through various international channels connected to the fraudulent network.
To unmask the face behind “Garry Michael,” the FBI and EFCC deployed advanced digital forensics. Aguma stated that forensic analysis successfully traced the associated email accounts, internet protocol (IP) addresses, telephone communication records, and an Apple iCloud account linked to the criminal romance fraud activities directly to David’s operational base in Nigeria.
The EFCC operative disclosed that the sum of N17,100,595.40 subsequently discovered in David’s Access Bank account was reasonably suspected to be a fraction of the proceeds from the unlawful international scheme.
Delivering his ruling after listening to the compelling submissions of the EFCC counsel and carefully reviewing the overwhelming affidavit evidence placed before the court, Justice Owoeye held that the commission’s application possessed significant merit.
Consequently, the judge ordered that the sum of N17,100,595.40 be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, marking a critical victory in the collaborative fight against international cybercrime.