Lagos Court orders forfeiture of N17.1m linked to romance fraud scheme

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 -The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of N17,100,595.40 to the Federal Government after the money was linked to an alleged romance fraud scheme currently under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Justice A.O. Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi gave the order on Monday, June 1, 2026, following an application filed by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 through its counsel, C.C. Okezie.

A statement by the EFCC said the funds, domiciled in an Access Bank account, are linked to Ifeanyi Alele David, who is being investigated by the anti-graft agency over alleged romance scam activities and related offences.

The court had earlier, on February 26, 2026, granted an interim forfeiture of the money and directed the EFCC to publish the order in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

During proceedings for the final forfeiture, Okezie told the court that the Commission complied with the directive by publishing the interim forfeiture notice in The Punch newspaper on April 10, 2026.

She further informed the court that no individual or organisation came forward within the stipulated period to challenge the forfeiture.

The EFCC’s application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by one of its operatives, Samson Aguma, who outlined the outcome of investigations conducted by the Commission.

According to the affidavit, the EFCC received a petition from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), alleging that David was involved in a romance scam linked to the death of a United States citizen.

Aguma said a victim of the alleged romance scam died by suicide in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado, United States, on September 15, 2021.

According to him, investigators who recovered the victim’s mobile phone after the incident discovered multiple messages exchanged with an individual identified as “Garry Micheal” on the Google Hangouts platform.

Investigators said the suspect allegedly continued to solicit money from the victim using different fabricated stories. He also requested funds to secure his release from prison and enable him to travel back to the United States.

“The suspect repeatedly solicited funds from the victim under various false pretences, including requests for money to secure his release from prison and facilitate his return to the United States,” the statement said.

According to the affidavit, the suspect allegedly asked the victim for an additional $60,000 on the day she died, even after she had reportedly informed him of her severe financial difficulties and lack of funds.

The FBI’s investigation further revealed that the victim sent approximately $154,500 between August 30 and September 13, 2021, through various channels connected to the alleged romance scam.

Aguma told the court that forensic investigations traced email accounts, internet protocol (IP) addresses, telephone records and an Apple iCloud account linked to the alleged romance fraud activities to David in Nigeria.

He added that the N17,100,595.40 found in David’s Access Bank account was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities and part of the funds generated from the alleged scam.

After reviewing the evidence and submissions presented by the EFCC, Justice Owoeye held that the application had merit and subsequently ordered the final forfeiture of the N17.1 million to the Federal Government of Nigeria.