By Abiola Olawale
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State has granted an order placing a restriction on some bank accounts linked to seven business owners and as well as four firms over an alleged connection with a fraudulent transfer of N1.4 billion from a Lebanese firm, Fouani Ltd.
The presiding judge, Justice Akintayo Aluko, in his ruling, placed a “Post No Debit” (PND) on the accounts pending the determination of the ongoing legal action.
The judgment was sequel to an ex-parte motion moved and argued by the legal counsel to the Department of State Security (DSS), Michael Bajela.
Bajela, in his argument, had prayed to the court to order a restriction on the said accounts pending the outcome of the case.
Ruling on the matter, Justice Aluko granted the ex-parte motion.
The New Diplomat reports that “Post No Debit” is a restriction imposed on banks by the court on specific accounts, preventing customers from making withdrawals, transfers, or any other debits from their accounts.
The complainant in the suit is Fouani Nigeria Limited while the respondents affected by the order and their bank details are: Haruna Adam Abubakar – 1709985717 – Access Bank, Anthony Godwill Ifeanyi – 1236732473 – Access Bank, Tochukwu Modestus Obodoefuna -1565420706 – Access Bank, M. Munzali Dara Worldwide Business 5601060742 – Fidelily Bank, Anthony Ifeanyi Electronic Trading 5420158002 – Keystone Bank, Kholobekian Joseph Mesrob 1016886802 – UBA, Izuchukwu Stanley Alaman Jo 2137303667 – UBA, A.S. Rano Lubricant Toll Inv. Ltd 1305567771 – Providus Bank, Obioma Emeka Daniel 1005922923 – FCMB, Esto World Mega Venture Resources 2004467010 -Globus Bank and Mubarak Buhari 8066868814 – Opay.
It would be recalled that the petition was dated the 1st day of August 2024, and signed by the Chief Audit Executive Richard Bello and the Chief Information Security Officer Olusola Odediran
In the lawsuit, Fouani claimed that the sum of N1,426,100,430.00 was allegedly transferred by the respondents from account number 0690342734 Access Bank, 0004018789 GTBank, and others.
“The petitioners therefore plead with the Applicant to investigate the matter and also stop the respondents from removing the money from their various Bank accounts mentioned in the face of our motion paper,” Babalola averred.
