A newly discovered £211m loot belonging to the late General Sani Abacha, has been seized from a Jersey bank account in the US, as confirmed by Presidential spokesperson, Tolu Ogunlesi.
It was gathered that Abacha, who was a Nigerian army officer and de facto president between 1993 until his death in 1998 laundered the money through the US into the Channel Islands.
The money was put in accounts held in Jersey by Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company.
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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.
It was further gathered that money that Jersey eventually keeps will be put into the Criminal Confiscation Fund, which is used to pay for a variety of projects.
In the past the fund has been used for the new police station and developments at La Moye Prison. Asides the newly discovered Abacha’s £211m loot which was seized, it is expected that even more money held by Doraville is likely to be seized and paid into the Civil Asset Recovery Fund in the future.
Attorney General Robert MacRae said:
‘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, and in achieving the payment of the bulk of the funds into the Civil Asset Recovery Fund, Jersey has once again demonstrated its commitment to tackling international financial crime and money laundering.’
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