A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of N17.1 million linked to an alleged romance fraud suspect, Ifeanyi Alele David, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Justice A.O. Owoeye issued the order on Monday, June 1, 2026, following an application filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its counsel, C.C. Okezie.
The forfeited sum, N17,100,595.40, domiciled in an Access Bank account, was said to be connected to alleged proceeds of unlawful activities involving romance fraud and related offences.
The court had earlier granted an interim forfeiture order on February 26, 2026, and directed the EFCC to publish the order in a national newspaper to allow any interested party to contest the forfeiture.
While moving the motion for final forfeiture, Okezie informed the court that the Commission complied with the directive by publishing the notice in The Punch newspaper on April 10, 2026.
She added that no person or organisation came forward within the stipulated period to challenge the interim order.
According to the EFCC, the application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by one of its investigators, Samson Aguma, who detailed findings from the Commission’s investigation into the matter.
Aguma stated that the EFCC received intelligence from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), alleging that David was involved in a romance scam linked to the death of an American citizen.
The affidavit revealed that on September 15, 2021, a romance fraud victim reportedly committed suicide in a hotel room in Denver, Colorado, United States.
Investigators were said to have recovered the victim’s mobile device, where they discovered multiple communications with an individual identified as “Garry Micheal” on the Google Hangouts application.
The EFCC operative stated that investigations showed the suspect allegedly obtained funds from the victim through several false claims, including requests for money to secure his release from prison and facilitate his return to the United States.
According to the affidavit, the suspect allegedly demanded an additional $60,000 from the victim on the day she took her own life, despite her informing him of her severe financial difficulties.
Further investigations reportedly established that the victim transferred about $154,500 between August 30 and September 13, 2021, through channels linked to the fraudulent scheme.
Aguma further disclosed that forensic investigations traced email accounts, internet protocol addresses, telephone records, and an Apple iCloud account associated with the alleged fraud activities to David in Nigeria.
He added that the N17.1 million discovered in the suspect’s Access Bank account was reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities connected to the romance fraud scheme.
After reviewing the submissions and affidavit evidence presented by the EFCC, Justice Owoeye held that the application was meritorious and consequently ordered the permanent forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government.
