The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has sealed off different properties owned and acquired with suspected proceeds of crime by former Director of Nigerian Navy Accounts, Rear Admiral Tahir Yusuf (retd.), SaharaReporters has gathered.
SaharaReporters had in a series of detailed investigations exposed how Yusuf, a fugitive, sneaked back into Nigeria with the help of some corrupt government officials, mainly in the military through Niger Republic.
He had fled Nigeria to Dubai, UAE in 2018 after he was accused of stealing N2 billion belonging to the Nigerian government while serving as Director of Nigerian Navy Accounts.
In 2020, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the permanent forfeiture of about N500 million found to be fraudulently amassed by the military officer to the Nigerian government.
The total amount forfeited was N392, 695,857.87, including $91,955.38 and the sum of £15,050 held in domiciliary accounts.
Yusuf, previously second-in-command to the Chief of Account and Budget, Naval Headquarters (NHQ), held the cash in seven accounts- both private and corporate in two banks.
The seven accounts were operated under the name of a company, Bitmas Enterprise, in Zenith Bank while two were held in Yusuf’s name in the defunct Skye Bank, now Polaris Bank.
SaharaReporters gathered that the fugitive has been moving round the country with military guards provided by the Navy authorities since he came back illegally.
Sources said some properties owned by Yusuf were sealed by the EFCC during the weekend.
The properties sealed by the anti-graft agency include Emerald hotels and suites located in Zaria and Kaduna, two uncompleted buildings also in Zaria and Kaduna and Bitmas Bakery Limited in Zaria, all in Kaduna State.
“Following SaharaReporters’ stories, EFCC sealed Rtd Yusuf’s two hotels and many other properties in Kaduna State,” a source said.
