The British crown dependency of
Jersey has seized £211 million said to have been laundered from Nigeria by
former head of state Sani Abacha.
UK’s Metro is reporting that
Abacha had stashed the money in accounts held in Jersey by Doraville Properties
Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company.
It was said to have been
laundered through the US into the Channel Islands, while he was in office.
“The money is now being held by
the government until authorities in Jersey, the US and Nigeria come to an
agreement on how it should be distributed,” the report said.
Jersey had in 2014, secured a
restraining order from the court on the bank account, following a request by
the US.
Doraville went to court to
challenge the order in 2016 but failed at various times, up to the privy
council – Jersey’s ultimate appellate court.
Robert MacRae, Jersey’s attorney
general, was quoted as saying: “In restraining the funds at the request of the
United States of America, through whose banking system the funds were laundered
prior to arriving here … Jersey has once again demonstrated its commitment to
tackling international financial crime and money laundering.”
This is the latest of the public
funds discovered to have been stashed in international banks by the late
military head of state who held sway between 1993 and 1998.
At least $322 million is said to
have so far been recovered as funds looted by Abacha.
Last year, the house of
representatives began a probe into the recovery of the loot by the late
Nigerian leader.
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They are fooling us. please what is the monetary value of $322m of 1994 in today 2019?
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