US Returns Another $20.6m Abacha Loot To Nigeria

The United States said it had transferred $20.6 million stolen by the late dictator, Sani Abacha, to the Nigerian Government.

According to a statement published on the US Department of Justice (DoJ) website on Thursday, the transfer was in line with an August 23 agreement between the two governments to repatriate assets stolen by Abacha and his co-conspirators.

The statement added that the repatriation brings the total amount forfeited and returned by the US in this case to approximately $332.4 million.

The statement read, “The United Kingdom’s cooperation in the investigation, restraint, and enforcement of the US judgment, along with the valuable contributions of Nigeria and other law enforcement partners around the world, including the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, as well as those of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, has been instrumental to the recovery of these funds.”

Recall that in 2020, the US DoJ repatriated over $311.7 million of the forfeited assets that had been located in the Bailiwick of Jersey. Last year, the United Kingdom enforced the US judgment against the additional $20.6 million.

In 2014, a judgment was entered in the District of Columbia ordering the forfeiture of approximately $500 million located in accounts around the world, as the result of a civil forfeiture complaint for more than $625 million traceable to money laundering involving the proceeds of Abacha’s corruption.

The forfeited assets represent corrupt monies laundered during and after the military regime of Abacha, who became Head of State through a military coup on November 17, 1993, and held that position until his death on June 8, 1998.

The complaint filed in the case alleged that Abacha, his son Mohammed, their associate, Abubakar Bagudu, now Kebbi State Governor, and others stole billions of dollars from the government coffers and others, and then laundered their criminal proceeds through US financial institutions and transactions.