The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) says it has re-arrested convicted Italian Floriana De-Stefani for failing to obey a court order upon her conviction by Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja. EFCC said the judge, on October 7, 2022, found Ms De-Stefani guilty of using false documents and counterfeit seals to confer on herself ownership of a property.
It said the property belonged to a company, Waterside Properties Limited, an offence contrary to Section 366 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
According to the EFCC, the judge, while delivering judgment, sentenced the convict to three years in prison and also ordered the release of the property on 14 A&B Warring Road (formerly Bayo Kuku Road), Ikoyi, Lagos, to Waterside Properties Limited within three weeks.
It said Ms De-Stefani was re-arrested on December 19, 2023, for refusing to vacate the property ordered for release to the company by the court.
“Following her arrest on Tuesday, she was also issued a notice by the commission to vacate the property within seven days or risk legal actions.
De-Stefani, alongside Stella Ndubusi Ogboju, was first arraigned on March 30, 2019, on a five-count charge bordering on forgery and stealing of a property belonging to a company, Waterside Properties Limited.
“The charges were later amended by the prosecution counsel, Ahmed Yerima, to a six-count charge,” the EFCC statement said.
“That you, Floriana De-Stefani, sometime in 2015, within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this Honourable court, dishonestly converted for your own use a property known and situated at No.14A/B Warring Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, a property of Waterside Properties Limited,” said one of the anti-corruption agency’s charges against the Italian.
