Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of two luxury Mercedes-Benz vehicles, mobile phones and other electronic devices linked to a convicted internet fraudster, Ifeanyi Franklyn Arinze, to the Federal Government.
The vehicles were a white Mercedes-Benz GLE 53 AMG and a grey Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 AMG, while the electronic devices comprise an orange iPhone 17 Pro Max, a silver Samsung Fold 7, a blue iPhone 13 and a silver iPad.
The properties were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
The judge issued the order following an application for final forfeiture filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel, C.C. Okezie.
The application was supported by an affidavit deposed to by an EFCC operative, Buluebiere Karamo, who disclosed that the commission had received intelligence alleging that Arinze was the leader of a syndicate of fraudsters operating in Lagos.
The affidavit further stated that the fraudster, using the identity of “Tonya” on iMessage, allegedly contacted several victims in the United States and instructed them to create foreign financial accounts, including Zelle, Apple Pay, PayPal, Cash App and Venmo.
The EFCC stated that Arinze subsequently directed the victims to transfer funds received into the accounts to a Chinese national identified as “Chinko Applepay”.
Upon receipt of the funds, the Chinese allegedly credited Arinze’s Kuda Bank account with the naira equivalent, after which Arinze transferred the money to other members of the syndicate and retained 10 per cent as commission.
An analysis of his Kuda Bank account allegedly revealed total inflows of N2,149,495,381.42 between August 2022 and February 2026.
Further investigation revealed that Arinze operated 49 Gmail accounts, alongside several Facebook and Instagram accounts, which were allegedly used for his fraudulent activities.
