The Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order for the interim forfeiture of N10.7 million traced to the bank account of Togboui Gnadzo Soncy Koakli, the Vice Chancellor of Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies (ESGT) in Cotonou, Benin Republic.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) disclosed this in a statement on Monday, on its official handle, alleging that the funds are proceeds from unlawful activities, particularly degree racketeering.
The court’s decision followed an ex-parte motion filed by Aniekan Ekong, Esq., representing the ICPC before Hon. Justice Binta Nyako.
The Commission asserted that the sum, discovered in account number 1007884857 at Zenith Bank, was linked to fraudulent degree issuance activities orchestrated by Koakli and his associates.
Ekong informed the court how ICPC, acting on intelligence, had launched an investigation into alleged criminal conspiracy and degree racketeering involving Togboui and his agents, the promoters of Access Institute of Advance Learning (AIAL) supposedly based in Kano, Mubarak Hamza Adam, and Abdullahi Shehu Yusuf, as well as one Abdulrahma Hadi Badamosi of the Federal College of Education, Kano.
According to the prosecutor, the group was investigated for alleged involvement in issuing fake degrees to Nigerians for a fee.
He explained to the court that the group usually carried out their nefarious activities, stressing that the agents of the group were to collect money from Nigerians desiring to procure a degree from ESGT and share it with Togboui.
The ICPC Prosecutor explained that some of their victims paid in cash while others paid through bank transfers as tendered before the court.
The court, however, granted the request made by the Commission for the interim forfeiture of the N10.7 million.
It also ordered the publication of the Preservation Order in a widely circulated national newspaper and called upon any interested parties to present reasons why the forfeiture should not be finalised.
