The United States said Wednesday it had
ordered a freeze on $458 million in assets
stolen by former Nigerian dictator Sani
Abacha and his accomplices and hidden
in European accounts. The Justice
Department said the corruption proceeds
— stashed away in bank accounts in
Britain, France and Jersey — were frozen
at Washington’s request with the help of
local authorities.
Abacha died in office in 1998, but his
surviving relatives still include some of
the richest and most influential figures in
Africa’s most populous nation.
According to a civil forfeiture complaint
unsealed in the US District Court in
Washington, the department wants the
recover more than $550 million in
connection with the action.
“This is the largest civil forfeiture action to
recover the proceeds of foreign official
corruption ever brought by the
department,” said Mythili Raman, acting
assistant attorney general.
“General Abacha was one of the most
notorious kleptocrats in memory, who
embezzled billions from the people of
Nigeria while millions lived in poverty,”
she said.
The Justice Department said the assets
frozen — along with additional assets
named in the complaint — represent the
“proceeds of corruption” during and after
the military regime of Abacha, who
became president of Nigeria through a
military coup on November 17, 1993 and
held that office until his death on June 8,
1998.
The complaint alleges that Abacha, his
son Mohammed Sani Abacha, their
associate Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and
others “embezzled, misappropriated and
extorted billions from the government of
Nigeria and others, then laundered their
criminal proceeds through the purchase
of bonds backed by the United States
using US financial institutions.”
Raman said that the action sends a “clear
message” that the United States is
“determined and equipped to confiscate
the ill-gotten riches of corrupt leaders
who drain the resources of their
countries.”
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