The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Abacha loot

  • Switzerland to release $380 million Abacha loot

    Switzerland to release $380 million Abacha loot

    Switzerland will return to Nigeria, about $380 million (360 million euros) linked to ex- military dictator Gen. Sani Abacha, Geneva’s public prosecutor said yesterday.

    The release of this cash may bring to an end the 16-year case on the funds.

    Gen. Abacha died in office in 1998 after a five-year iron-fist rule. He was seen as extremely corrupt and faced criticism over his human rights abuses.

    The decision to return the funds followed a July 2014 deal between Nigeria and the Abacha family.

    Under the agreement, the funds would be confiscated and returned to Nigeria, while Abuja would drop its case against the deceased dictator’s son, Abba Abacha.

    The $380 million had been placed in several accounts abroad that were controlled by the Abacha family, which is considered a criminal organisation, the Geneva prosecutors’ office said in a statement.

    The money was seized in 2006 in Luxembourg, under orders from the Swiss authorities.

    The Abacha family had also placed some $500 million (530 million euros) in Swiss banks, though those funds have already been returned to Nigeria.

    The $380 million will be returned under the World Bank’s supervision, said the prosecutor’s office.

    The authorities have also decided to drop their case against Abba Abacha, which began in 1999.

    In 2012, the dictator’s son was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence for participating in a criminal organisation.

    Switzerland’s top court cancelled the sentence in May 2014, citing procedural reasons.

    The Geneva prosecutor’s office on Tuesday said Abba Abacha has already been detained for 561 days from 2004 to 2006, without receiving compensation.

    The cash issue began in 1999, when Nigeria asked the Swiss judicial authorities to help it recover $2.2 billion ($2 billion euros) embezzled and siphoned off by Gen. Abacha while he was in power.

     

  • US lawyers seek repatriation of Abacha loot

    US lawyers seek repatriation of Abacha loot

    Two United States professors of law have asked Eric Holder, Jr., the attorney-general of United States of America, to repatriate $458 million stolen by former dictator, the late Gen. Sani Abacha and his accomplices.

    The lawyers, Alexander Sierck and Nicholai Diamond of Cameron LPP in Washington DC, sent a letter dated March 18 as volunteer counsel to Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

    In the letter, titled: ‘Re: Abacha Kleptocracy Forfeiture Action’, the lawyers said: “SERAP requests that the United States Department of Justice establishes a general process for the repatriation of the assets seized as part of its Kleptocracy Initiative. SERAP’s request arises in the specific context of the Department’s March 6 announcement that it froze more than $458 million, hidden in bank accounts around the world by former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and conspirators, to implement the civil forfeiture complaint filed in a federal district court in Washington. As the department stated in its press statement announcing the seizure, these seized funds properly belong to the citizens the kleptocrats ostensibly served.”

    According to the lawyers, “although the department has only filed the civil forfeiture complaint regarding the Abacha-related assets, SERAP submits that its request is timely in regard to such assets. This is because in many such cases, the kleptocrats owning the seized property do not appear in the United States to contest the seizure because they would then subject themselves to personal jurisdiction in the underlying criminal case that might be filed against them. Thus, at some point, perhaps by the end of 2014, there will be a default on the Abacha asset seizure, consequently freeing up the assets for repatriation to or for the benefit of Nigeria and its citizens.”

    “SERAP notes that in a September 19, 2011, interview with the Main Justice blog, Jennifer Shasky, speaking on behalf of the department’s Kleptocracy Initiative, stated that: the department has no (legal) obligation to repatriate assets subject to civil forfeiture, but that the department is committed to finding ways to repatriate or otherwise use such funds for the benefit of the victim country. SERAP assumes that this is still the department’s position,” the lawyers said.