The hearing of an application to forfeit two penthouses valued at $4.760million allegedly belonging to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, was stalled at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday.
The applicant, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the respondents were not represented in court when the case was called for hearing before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun.
A new date of February 12 next year has been fixed for the hearing.
The court had on December 5 ordered the temporary forfeiture of Penthouse 21, Building 5, Block C, 11th floor (Bella Vista Estate) Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, and Penthouse 22, Block B (Admiralty Estate), also in Ikoyi, Lagos.
EFCC said the properties were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with “proceeds of crime.”
Mrs. Alison-Madueke, Donald Amangbo, Schillenburg LLC and Sequoyah Property Limited are the respondents.
The Commission said the companies in whose names the properties were acquired belong to the former minister.
An investigator, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who deposed to a supporting affidavit to the ex-parte motion, said sometime in 2016, a search warrant was executed at Amangbo’s premises.
He said Amangbo was “an acquaintance of Mrs. Alison Madueke.”
The investigator said one of the documents recovered from Amamgbo led the operatives to the Deputy Managing Director of YF Construction Development and Real Estate Limited, Mr. Fadi Basbous.
The deponent said Basbous made a statement where he said the two properties were sold at $3.570million and $1.194 million and are owned by Sequoyah Properties Limited and Schillenburg LLC.
Bawa said the properties were paid for by Mrs. Angela Jide-Jones and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited.
According to him, Mrs. Jide-Jones was married to Mrs. Alison-Madueke’s associate, Jide Omokore, who registered and promoted Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept.
The EFCC investigator said Omokore paid for the properties through his wife, Angela.
