Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, has
\nrefused to set aside the order of interim forfeiture of some properties
\nlinked to Shamsudeen Bala, son of Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed,
\nwho is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
\nfor money laundering.<\/p>\n
Shamsudeen is facing trial before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal
\nHigh Court, Abuja, on an amended 14-count charge.<\/p>\n
He is standing trial alongside Bird Trust Agro Allied Limited,
\nIntertrans Global Logistic Ltd, Diakin Telecommunications Ltd and
\nBal-Vac Mining Nigeria Ltd.<\/p>\n
In the course of the trial, the EFCC had on October 18, 2017 secured an
\norder for the interim forfeiture of some properties traced to
\nShamsudeen, which are believed to be the proceeds of illegal activities.<\/p>\n
Justice Dimgba had made the order pursuant to a motion brought before
\nthe\u00a0 ourt by the EFCC seeking for the interim forfeiture of the
\nproperties.<\/p>\n
Dissatisfied with the order, Shamsudeen sought the order of the court to
\nset aside the interim forfeiture order of Justice Dimgba.<\/p>\n
However, delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Taiwo refused to set
\naside the interim forfeiture orders of some of the properties as
\ncontained in the order of interim forfeiture made by Justice Dimgba.<\/p>\n
The properties include a mansion located at Sunrise Estate, Asokoro,
\nAbuja; three four-bedroom semi detached duplexes located at Green Acres
\nEstate, Apo-Dutse, Abuja; and a four-bedroom semi detached duplex with
\nBQ, located at Maitama, Abuja. The trial judge held that in relation to
\nthree other properties listed in the schedule, \u201cthose who laid claims
\nshowed sufficient proof of ownership and no pending charge against
\nthem\u201d.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Justice Taiwo also took judicial notice of counts three,
\nfour, five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10 and also refused to set aside
\nthe properties listed in the counts \u201cbecause they are subject to pending
\ncriminal proceedings before Justice Dimgba\u201d.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Shamsudeen is expected to continue with his trial before
\nJustice Dimgba on March 24, 2020.<\/p>\n
Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo, has refused to set aside the order of interim forfeiture of some properties linked to Shamsudeen Bala, son of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n