The United States has agreed to return to Nigeria about $480million believed to have been looted by late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha and his family.
However, terms and
conditions for the repatriation of the cash and other details are currently
being processed.
Following the
development, the Department of Justice in the United States has created a
Kleptocracy Unit, which will help in tracking the stolen money shipped overseas
by public officials from Nigeria and other countries.
This is coming
following a recent meeting between the Department of Justice and the
Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and the Acting
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim
Magu, The Nation said in a report.
A source, who spoke
with the newspaper said: “This is the largest loot ever traced to a former
Nigerian public officer in the U.S.
“The DOJ, the AGF and
the EFCC have concluded all the talks; we are in the process of repatriation of
the $480million.
“Although there are
interventions from private lawyers, the DOJ prefers a government-to-government
deal.
“ I can tell you that
the funds will soon be repatriated. If there is anything left, it has to do
with the conditions which the US will attach to the utilisation of the funds.
“The US is likely to
advise on specific areas to spend the funds on and the project monitoring
mechanisms. It does not want the cash re-looted.”
In the source’s view,
there is no hiding place for Nigerian treasury looters in the United States
anymore.
“The Federal
Government and the U.S. on January 14, 2003 signed the Treaty on Mutual Legal
Assistance in Criminal Matters between the two nations. So, no corrupt public
officers from Nigeria can hide in the US.
“At the session with
AGF and the EFCC boss, they told the Nigerian team that the DOJ now has
Kleptocracy Unit which is closing tabs on Political Office Holders and other
public officers in this country and many other nations.”
Recall that the
Criminal Division of the Office of International Affairs of the US Department
of Justice, had in a letter to the Federal Government, identified the accounts
where Abacha loot was hidden.
The highlights are as
follows: Doraville Properties Corporation – $287 million in Account Number
80020796 located at Deutsche Bank International Limited in the Bailiwick of
Jersey; HSBC Fund Administration (Jersey) – $12 million in account number
S-104460 in the Bailiwick of Jersey; and Rayville International, S. A – $1
million in account number 223405880IUSD at Banque SBA in Paris, France.
Buhari can’t take us to promise land, Nigeria will break up – Primate Ayodele
Others are Standard
Alliance Financial Services Limited – $144 million in account 223406510PUSD at
Banque SBA in Paris; Mecosta Securities – $21.7 million in accounts 10030688
and 100138409 at Standard Bank in the United Kingdom; and HSBC Bank Plc – $1.6
million in account number 38175076.
Also listed are Blue
Holding (1) Pte Ltd/ Ridley Group Limited – £6,806,900; Blue Holding (2) Pte.
Ltd/ Ridley Group Limited – £21,846,983; Blue Holding (1) Pte. Ltd/ Ridley
Group Limited – £10,293,343.58; Blue Holding (2) Pte. Ltd/Ridley Group Limited
– £56,962,996.26.
It was learnt that the
Abacha family had pledged to cooperate with the Federal Government.
Comments