Sani Abacha loot: Over USD 267 million seized from a United States Bank

NEW JERSEY, United States – More revelation has continued to be made about the volume of money Nigeria’s former military dictator, the late Gen. Sani Abacha stole and starched away in foreign banks.

The latest being the more than $267 million which has been seized from a New Jersey bank in the United States.

The money is believed to have been laundered abroad through son of the late dictator, Mohammed Sani Abacha. Totaling US$267,751,992.02, the money was paid into the Civil Asset Recovery Fund on Friday, May 31, 2019.

This fund according to the department is managed by the Minister for Treasury and Resources in accordance with the Civil Asset Recovery (International Co-operation) (Jersey) Law 2007, from assets that were previously held by Doraville Properties Corporation. 

The money were seized on the basis of a New Jersey’s Court of Appeal, which rejected the appeal of Doraville. Further monies held by Doraville are likely to be realised and paid into the Civil Asset Recovery Fund in the future.

“A US Federal Court in Washington DC had previously found that the money – more than US$300 million – was derived from corruption in Nigeria during the military regime of General Sani Abacha. The court found that the money had been laundered through the US banking system by people including President Abacha’s son Mohammed, before being transferred to Jersey”, the department said.

In 2014, based on request of the US Authorities, the Attorney General applied for, and the Royal Court granted, a restraining order over the Jersey bank account balance of Doraville, which is a BVI company. The purpose of the restraining order was to preserve the money until a final civil asset recovery order could be registered in the Royal Court.

Doraville applied to the Royal Court for the restraint order to be discharged. The Royal Court dismissed this application on 22 July 2016, ruling that the restraint order was lawful. Doraville challenged the Royal Court’s decision, taking the case to Jersey’s Court of Appeal. In its judgement of 22 February 2017 the Court of Appeal rejected the bid to overturn the Royal Court’s 2016 ruling.