A New Jersey court in the United States has ruled that assets worth around $8.9 million stolen by government officials in Nigeria around 2014 can be returned to Nigeria.
Following the service of a forfeiture notice by Jersey’s Attorney General to the Royal Court in November, the court concluded that funds deposited in a Jersey bank account were likely misappropriated by officials in the Nigerian Government in 2014.
Negotiations for the return of these assets will now take place with the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The transfer of money was disguised as government-sanctioned contracts for arms purchases during the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria between 2009 and 2015.
The Jersey government indicated that it is likely that a significant portion of the funds earmarked for genuine arms transactions was redirected through international bank accounts associated with shell companies.
Mark Temple KC, His Majesty’s Attorney General stated, “This case again demonstrates the effectiveness of the 2018 Forfeiture Law in recovering the proceeds of corruption and restoring that money to victims of crime.”
“I now intend to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
What you should know
In recent times, the international community to stem corruption and ensure public funds are deployed to uses that serve the people has begun investigating looted funds within banks in their jurisdiction.
Prominent among these repatriated loots were those of former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha. A report by ThisDay publication estimated the total recovered loot for the former leader at $3.65 billion in the past 24 years. These funds were domiciled in foreign banks across Europe and the United States with the majority of the looted cash originating from Switzerland.
The last of such repatriations to Nigeria was the $150 million return from France in November 2023.