Court orders interim forfeiture of Invictus Obi’s Abuja houses, cars

Obinwanne Okeke

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the interim forfeiture of two houses in Abuja and two cars linked to the convicted internet fraudster Obinwanne Okeke popularly known as Invictus Obi.

Mr Obi is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in the US for his involvement in a computer-based intrusion fraud scheme amounting to $11 million.

Justice Peter Lifu gave the order on October 29, 2021 following an ex parte motion filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The affected apartments are House 4 Oakville Estate, Kado Kuchi, Abuja and another five-bedroom duplex at Standard Estate, Kabusa, Abuja.

The vehicles are Toyota Corolla with registration number RBC6238N and another unregistered Toyota Corolla Sport.

The EFCC told the court that the property would be used to restitute foreign victims of Obi’s fraud through the United States of America Consulate.

The anti-graft agency supported its application for forfeiture with an affidavit sworn by one of its investigators, Usman Abdulhamid.

Mr Abdulhamid noted that Obi had already forfeited N280,555,010, N240,250,904.46 and N40,304,106.19 to the Federal Government.

Justice Lifu also ordered that the EFCC should publish the forfeiture order in a widely-read newspaper in Nigeria within 14 days for any interested party to show cause why the order should not be permanently made.

The case was adjourned till November 30 for final decision on the forfeiture application.