US freezes $458m hidden by Abacha
Category: World News
Related Posts:
The United States has frozen more than $458m that former Nigerian
leader Sani Abacha and his conspirators obtained through corruption and
hid in bank accounts around the world, the US Justice Department said.
About $313m was restrained in bank accounts in the Bailiwick of
Jersey and $145 million was restrained in bank accounts in France, the
department said in a statement on Wednesday.
The department said it was pursuing additional holdings in the United
Kingdom with an expected value of at least $100m, but that the exact
amount would be determined later.
Abacha died in 1998 at age 54. Nigeria has for years been fighting to
recover his money, but companies linked to the Abacha family have gone
to court to prevent repatriation.
The former military dictator looted between $3bn and $5bn of public
money during his five-year rule of Africa's top oil producer from 1993
to 1998, according to Transparency International.
Overseas bank accounts
In November, the US Justice Department filed a lawsuit seeking the
recovery of money that had been identified in overseas bank accounts.
A judge in Washington, DC, unsealed the lawsuit on Wednesday.
Named with Abacha as conspirators in the suit were his son Mohammed
Sani Abacha and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, whom the suit called their
associate.
They laundered money through the purchase of bonds backed by the
United States using US financial institutions, according to prosecutors.
Last month, US arrest warrants for the assets were enforced in France
as well as in the Bailiwick of Jersey off the coast of Normandy,
through mutual legal assistance requests and in the United Kingdom
through litigation, the Justice Department said.
The assets were held in banks including Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Banque SBA, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also seeks the forfeiture of five corporate entities registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Source: Reuters
Related Posts:
No comments