By Libby George
LAGOS, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The United States and the British
dependency of Jersey have agreed with Nigeria to repatriate more
than $300 million in funds stolen by former military ruler
General Sani Abacha, the three governments said.
Abacha ruled Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, from
1993 until his death in 1998. Corruption watchdog Transparency
International estimates he stole as much as $5 billion of public
money during that time.
He was never charged with corruption during his life and
Nigeria has been fighting for years to recover the money.
Companies linked to the Abacha family have gone to court to
prevent repatriation, alleging infringement of their rights to a
fair trial.
The governments of Nigeria, Jersey and the United States
said in a statement they had entered into an asset recovery
agreement to repatriate forfeited assets to Nigeria.
The Nigerian government pegged the total amount at $321
million.
The funds were laundered through the U.S. banking system and
then held in bank accounts in Jersey in the name of Doraville
Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company, and in
the name of the son of the ex-military ruler, they said.
"This agreement has culminated in a major victory for
Nigeria and other African countries as it recognizes that crime
does not pay and that it is important for the international
community to seek for ways to support sustainable development
through the recovery and repatriation of stolen assets,"
Nigerian Attorney General Abubakar Malami said.
Nigeria has been working with governments around the world
in recent years on an asset recovery scheme to help repatriate
its stolen funds to boost its finances.
The government did not state how much in total it believes
Abacha stole. As at 2013, Nigeria had recovered about $1.3
billion of Abacha's money from various European jurisdictions,
with more than a third of that from Switzerland.
The Swiss government in 2017 said it would return to Nigeria
about $321 million in assets seized from Abacha's family via a
deal signed with the World Bank.
Abacha's laundering operation extended to the United States
and European jurisdictions such as Britain, France, Germany,
Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Luxembourg, the statement said.
His family, which has never admitted nor denied that funds
were stolen, could not be reached for comment and their present
whereabouts were not known.
In a separate news release, the U.S. Department of Justice
said it is is seeking to enforce forfeiture judgments for
approximately $30 million in assets located in Britain and more
than $144 million in France.
In 2014 a U.S. court forfeited the money as property
involved in the illicit laundering of the proceeds of corruption
arising in Nigeria during the five years when Abacha was head of
state. Negotiations for repatriation commenced in 2018.
The funds would be administered by Nigeria's sovereign
wealth fund and would be used to develop road infrastructure,
that will boost supply chain connections and economic growth,
Malami said.