A court of appeal in Jersey has refused an application by
Jeremiah Useni, a retired lieutenant-general of the Nigerian Army, to gain
access to funds held in seized bank accounts in Jersey.
In May, the court had ordered the forfeiture of the funds
totalling £1.9 million.
Useni was said to have transferred the money into the
Standard Chartered Bank accounts in Jersey between the 1980s and 1990s, when he
was in Nigeria’s military service.
The accounts — in euro, pound sterling, and US dollar — were
reportedly opened under the false name of “Tim Shani”.
Through his Jersey-based lawyer, Useni reportedly said he
used non-existent “Tim Shani” to open the accounts for “security” reasons due
to the instability in Nigeria, and that he derived his wealth and funds from
gifts and multiple businesses, including real estate, farming, hospitality, and
personal savings.
In June, the retired general had asked the royal court for
access to the funds, saying he had “no other way” to pay his Jersey lawyers, as
he had “limited income” and “cannot make international transfers”.
But the application was denied, and consequently, he filed
an appeal.
However, his appeal was dismissed in a written judgment by
the court of appeal, according to the Jersey Evening Post .
Mark Temple, the state’s attorney-general, said the “tainted
money” could be seized under Jersey’s Forfeiture of Assets Law 2018 without the
need for a conviction.
“The decision of the Jersey court of appeal, in this case,
reconfirms that the forfeiture law is an effective means of depriving persons
of property that is reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained,” he
said.
The money is expected to be returned to the Nigerian
government.
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