BY AGENCY REPORTER
late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha
| credits: https://www.google.com.ng
| credits: https://www.google.com.ng
the United States has taken control of more than $480m looted by former military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, and his associates after a court ruling, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
The money stolen during Abacha’s 1993-1998 de facto presidency and stashed in banks around the world will be returned to the Nigerian government, the department said in a statement.
“Rather than serve his county, General Abacha used his public office in Nigeria to loot millions of dollars, engaging in brazen acts of kleptocracy,” Assistant Attorney General, Leslie Caldwell, said in the statement.
Reuters reported that the US District Judge, John Bates, ordered on Wednesday that the funds, frozen by the Justice Department in March, be forfeited to US control.
The judgment includes about $303m in two bank accounts in the British offshore centre of Jersey and $144m in two bank accounts in France. Three accounts in the United Kingdom and Ireland hold at least $27m, the statement said.
Claims to another $148m in four investment portfolios in the UK are pending.
Abacha, who took power in a coup, died in 1998. Nigeria has been fighting for years to recover his money, but companies linked to the Abacha family have gone to court to prevent repatriation.
Between $3bn and $5bn of public money was looted during Abacha’s regime, according to Transparency International.
The Justice Department suit filed in November 2013 saying that Abacha, his son Mohammed; their associate, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, and others embezzled, misappropriated and extorted money from the Nigerian government.
They laundered funds by buying bonds backed by the US, using US financial institutions, prosecutors said.
The assets were held in banks that included Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc and Banque SBA, according to the lawsuit.
In June, after a 16-year legal battle, Nigeria recovered from Liechtenstein $228m stolen by Abacha and his associates.
As of last year, Nigeria had recovered about $1.3bn of Abacha’s money from various European jurisdictions.
US wins control of half-billion dollars corrupt gains of
Abacha’s loot -
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Justice Department said Thursday it had won legal control of nearly a half-billion dollars worth of corrupt gains hidden in bank accounts by former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.
The department said a court judgment on Wednesday gave it title to more than $480 million that Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from 1993 to 1998, and associates had embezzled and placed in accounts in Jersey, England, Ireland and France.
Late Sani Abacha
That took US authorities one step closer to eventually repatriating the money, only a portion of the billions allegedly stolen by Abacha, to Nigeria.
The US is still seeking control over another four Abacha-tied investment portfolios in Britain containing $148 million.
Based on the court judgement, the department will seek to have authorities in those four jurisdictions order banks to transfer the money to it, on the basis that the corrupt funds were originally moved through the US financial system.
“General Abacha and others systematically embezzled billions of dollars in public funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria on the false pretense that the funds were necessary for national security,” the justice department said.
“The conspirators withdrew the funds in cash and then moved the money overseas through US financial institutions.”
An army general deeply involved in Nigerian politics since the 1960s, Abacha ousted a transitional government in 1993 and assumed the role of head of state until he suddenly died in June 1998.
Assistant Attorney General Caldwell branded Abacha’s theft “brazen acts of kleptocracy” aided by his son Mohammed and his former associate and still-prominent politician Abubakar Atiku Bagudu.
Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said it was not clear how long it would take to take possession of the funds and give them back to Nigeria.
“Our goal is to repatriate the recouped funds for the benefit of the Nigerian people,” he said.
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US Government claims $480m of Abacha’s loot
The United State’s department of Justice, DOJ, says it has forfeited more than $480 million in corruption proceeds hidden in bank accounts around the world by former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, his son, Mohammed Abacha, and other co-conspirators.
Assistant Attorney General, Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office disclosed this after a judgment was entered on Aug. 6, 2014, by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates of the District of Columbia.
The Assistant Attorney General Caldwell in a statement by the DOJ said “Rather than serve his country, General Abacha used his public office in Nigeria to loot millions of dollars, engaging in brazen acts of kleptocracy.”
Caldwell continues, “With this judgment, we have forfeited $480 million in corruption proceeds that can be used for the benefit of the Nigerian people. Through the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division denies kleptocrats like Abacha the fruits of their crimes, and protects the U.S. financial system from money laundering. In coordination with our partners in Jersey, France and the United Kingdom, we are helping to end this chapter of corruption and flagrant abuse of office.
“We remain steadfast in protecting the U.S. banking system from becoming a tool for dictators to hide their criminal proceeds,” said Assistant Director in Charge Parlave.
“This court order bolsters the FBI’s ability to combat international corruption and money laundering by seizing the assets of those involved. I want to thank the special agents, financial analysts and prosecutors whose hard work over the years resulted in today’s announcement,” the statement further read.
“This court order bolsters the FBI’s ability to combat international corruption and money laundering by seizing the assets of those involved. I want to thank the special agents, financial analysts and prosecutors whose hard work over the years resulted in today’s announcement,” the statement further read.
The forfeited assets comes from the proceeds of corruption during and after the military regime of General Abacha, who assumed power as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a military coup on Nov. 17, 1993, and held that position until his death on June 8, 1998. The complaint alleges that General Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and others embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions of dollars from the government of Nigeria and others, then laundered their criminal proceeds through U.S. financial institutions and the purchase of bonds backed by the United States.
The judgment is informed by a civil forfeiture complaint the department filed in November 2013 against more than $625 million in the largest kleptocracy forfeiture action brought in the department’s history. The forfeiture judgment includes approximately $303 million in two bank accounts in the Bailiwick of Jersey, $144 million in two bank accounts in France, and three bank accounts in the United Kingdom and Ireland with an expected value of at least $27 million. The ultimate disposition of the funds will follow the execution of the judgment in each of these jurisdictions. Claims to an additional approximately $148 million in four investment portfolios in the United Kingdom are pending.
Allegations in the complaint have it that General Abacha and others systematically embezzled billions of dollars in public funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria on the false pretense that the funds were necessary for national security. The conspirators withdrew the funds in cash and then moved the money overseas through U.S. financial institutions. General Abacha and his finance minister is allegedly believed to have caused the government of Nigeria to purchase Nigerian government bonds at vastly inflated prices from a company controlled by Bagudu and Mohammed Abacha, generating an illegal windfall of more than $282 million.
You might also likeFurthermore, General Abacha and his associates are believed to have extorted more than $11 million from a French company and its Nigerian affiliate in connection with payments on government contracts. The Funds involved in each of these schemes were allegedly laundered through the United States.
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