Nigerian ex-dictator's corrupt USD 267 mn seized in Jersey

More than USD 267 million (237.6 million euros) belonging to the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha has been seized from a bank account in Jersey, the Channel Island's government said.

A US Federal Court had found the money "was derived from corruption in Nigeria" and had been laundered through the US banking system by people including Abacha's son Mohammed, the government said in a statement.

The money was then transferred to the British crown dependency of Jersey.

Army officer Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998 aged 54.

The money, in the Jersey bank account balance of shell company Doraville Properties Corporation, was placed under a restraining order in 2014 to preserve it.

After several court challenges, the money was paid into Jersey's Civil Asset Recovery Fund. The total sum was USD 267,751,992.02.

The return of the money to Nigeria will be the subject of an asset-sharing agreement, to be negotiated between Jersey, the United States and Nigeria.

"Jersey has once again demonstrated its commitment to tackling international financial crime and money laundering," said the island's Attorney General Robert MacRae.

Jersey, which lies in the Channel off the north coast of France, is not a part of the United Kingdom but a crown dependency with its own laws and parliament.

Nigeria announced in April 2018 that it had received more than USD 300 million from Switzerland as part of money seized from the family of Abacha.