MORE THAN £210 million has been seized from a Jersey bank account which belonged to former Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha.
A US federal court based in Washington DC found that the money was derived from corruption in Nigeria during Abacha’s military regime in the 1990s.
Abacha, who died in 1998, came to power in 1993.
Doraville Properties Corporation previously held the funds which were laundered into the Channel Islands through the US.
Abacha’s son Mohammed was among those involved in the laundering of the money through the US system.
The seized funds have now been paid into the Civil Asset Recovery Fund, which is managed by the minister for treasury and resources in Jersey.
The seizure comes after years of work by the authorities.
In 2014, a restraining order was granted over the bank account balance of Doraville, a BVI company.
Doraville lost several appeals against the Royal Court ruling.
Last week, Mark Temple, Jersey’s solicitor general, delivered a presentation at the United Nations anti-corruption conference.
Speaking at the event, he said: “The Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against corruption is an important international forum concerned with anti-corruption measures and asset returns. The conference was a good opportunity to demonstrate progress with the Doraville case, as well as Jersey’s determination to deal with international financial crime more generally.”
The recovered funds will be shared between Jersey, the United States and Nigeria. The details of how the assets will be distributed is to be negotiated.
It is understood the money accounts for just a portion of that which was stolen during Abacha’s presidency.
In 2017, the Swiss government announced that it would return $320 million to Nigeria after linking it to corruption under Abacha’s rule.
Read every story in our hardcopy newspaper for free by downloading the app.