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A high court in Abuja has issued an interim order to freeze 21 bank accounts in various commercial banks over allegations of money laundering.
Presiding Judge Emeka Nwite also directed the police to arrest the account holders. The order followed a motion ex parte filed by Ibrahim Mohammed, counsel for the inspector-general of police (IGP), marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1965/V/2024.
The judge instructed the banks to provide account details, impose a post-no-debit (PND) on the accounts, and disable ATMs linked to them, while still allowing inflows. The investigation is limited to 90 days.
The accounts in question are held with Access Bank, Sterling Bank, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, Union Bank, Guarantee Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa, Stanbic IBTC Bank, First Monument Bank, Heritage Bank, TAJ Bank, and Keystone Bank.
The accounts are suspected of holding proceeds from unlawful activities or fraud. The motion’s affidavit detailed an alleged breach of trust and money laundering involving a joint venture contract with the Nigerian Navy.
The affidavit claims the suspect diverted funds from a joint account set up for the contract, removing the co-signatory and transferring funds to various other accounts to conceal the source.
The matter has been adjourned until 3 April for mention.
