Andrew Osborn in Brussels
Hundreds of millions of pounds stolen by the late Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha and his entourage is stashed in bank accounts in London and Jersey, lawyers working for the Nigerian government claimed this week.
The money is allegedly in accounts belonging to some of Abacha’s close family and friends and some former members of his military government. It is thought to be part of an estimated 2-billion systematically looted from Nigeria’s central bank during the dictator’s five- year rule.
Britain is not the only place where the money is stored – banks in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, the United States, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Luxembourg are also involved.
Authorities in Switzerland froze 430- million worth of assets belonging to the Abacha entourage at the end of last year, and on Tuesday prosecutors in Luxembourg sequestered about 420-million in eight separate bank accounts.
A Swiss lawyer acting on behalf of the Nigerian government has contacted the British Home Office with a view to freezing British bank accounts containing money linked to Abacha.
The Nigerian government wants this money, estimated at more than 300- million, returned along with any evidence which can be used in a case against Abacha’s entourage.
“More than $2,5-billion was simply stolen as if from a cash register through a mixture of fraud, false contracts and commissions,” Enrico Monfrini, the lawyer acting on behalf of the Nigerian government, said this week. “We are aware that there is more money out there than we’ll ever find.
“The longer we carry on the more we’ll find. It’s not just about money, it’s symbolic. The current government wants to show Nigerians and the world that Nigeria exists and is fighting corruption with all its might.”
There are, according to Monfrini, only two ways the Nigerian authorities can now proceed: Abacha’s entourage can either agree to the confiscation of all monies identified or the investigations will go on. Nigeria has already reclaimed about 530-million worth of assets taken during Abacha’s rule and is anxious to get more.
In a bizarre twist to the case Johnnie Cochran, the lawyer who defended OJ Simpson, has been brought in by the Abacha entourage to help them retain the disputed funds.