A federal high court in Abuja has granted an interim order
to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to freeze four
cryptocurrency wallets worth $37 million for money laundering.
Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, granted the order while
ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by the EFCC.
The ruling was delivered on August 8, according to the
certified true copy seen by TheCable on Tuesday.
Based on the document, the commission sought to freeze a
total of 37,061,867,869.3 cryptocurrency.
Out of the total amount, the lion’s share of the assets is
USDT 37 million, followed by USDT 443,512.37, USDT 967, and USDT 90.
The hearing featured a dialogue between the judge and O.S.
Ujam, EFCC’s lawyer, on the application — without any opposing arguments or
objections being presented.
The EFCC said the assets are proceeds of money laundering
and terrorism financing.
“That an order of
this honourable court is hereby made freezing the wallet addresses/accounts
stated in the schedule below, which wallets are owned by individuals currently
being investigated for offences of money laundering and terrorism financing,
pending the conclusion of the investigation,” the judge ruled.
The agency, however, did not reveal the identities of the
wallet owners in its application.
On April 19, a federal high court in Abuja had granted an
order to EFCC to freeze at least 1,146 bank accounts belonging to individuals
and companies over “unauthorised foreign exchange” transactions.
The commission was also investigating the individuals and
companies for “money laundering and terrorism financing”.
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