Swiss court sentences dictator's son
by Swisster Staff
June 18, 2010 | 12:23


A Geneva police court on Friday sentenced Abba Abacha, son of the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, to a suspended two-year jail term for participating in a criminal organization.

The court ruled that Abacha could not properly account for the hundreds of millions of francs he kept in 20 bank accounts under different names.

Last fall, an investigating judge orderd the confiscation of 350 million dollars seized by authorities from banks in the Bahamas and Luxembourg.

Abacha’s father is believed to have absconded with three billion francs from Nigerian government coffers between 1993 and 1999, when he died.

Much of the money ended up in Swiss bank accounts. Most of the 870 million francs frozen by government authorities in Switzerland has already been returned to the Nigerian government.

The case against Abacha’s son began in 1999 at the request of the Nigerian government.

He has already spent 561 days in preventive custody.


http://www.swisster.ch/swiss-court-sentences-dictators-son.html?

Sins of the father,

Definitely, sins of the father,

Yap.

Not the issue of fathers sin, when the father was alive they ruled together, now the father is no more any penalty that suppose to melted for someone who has done such act should be bored by him. But I sincerely pity for him because if his father is alive nobody dear him.

catching up with the children!

I wonder why many are saying, Sin of the father.
I am sure the Child too knows that his father never worked for such much money and why would he open accounts in several names to keep the money too.
So i think this is not just about the father, i think the son is as guilty as the father.

Nemesis
Nemesis
Nemesis
may Abacha rot in hell !!!!!!!!!!

Ayorinde S:

Not the issue of fathers sin, when the father was alive they ruled together, now the father is no more any penalty that suppose to melted for someone who has done such act should be bored by him. But I sincerely pity for him because if his father is alive nobody dear him.

I think we trying to get the child off the rope too easy, cos he is not a kid and he knows what he was doing doing . . . . I so much agree with you

U wan collect the money go flenjor with ur GF abi?   God don catch u today, Oya taste life inside ile ewon!

Ayorinde S

Not the issue of fathers sin, when the father was alive they ruled together, now the father is no more any penalty that suppose to melted for someone who has done such act should be bored by him. But I sincerely pity for him because if his father is alive nobody dear him.


Can u imagin wetin person wey dey pray for better nigeria dey talk?. . .so Ayorinde u dey pity for criminals? [color=#990000][/color]

Why would anybody pity any abacha's relatives that is sent to jail.Al-mustapha is rotting in jail already for more than twelve;paying for the sins of Abacha.so wtf is ayorinde s talking about pity ?

efforts to stop the handover to Nigeria of hundreds of millions of dollars tied to the country’s late dictator, Sani Abacha.
The country's highest court threw out an appeal by Abacha's family and associates, who had opposed the return of about $500 million (SFr610.75 million).



They had argued that a new Swiss investigation into Abacha's son, Abba Abacha, could change previous rulings.

Last month, Switzerland sought Abba Abacha's extradition from Germany, where he was arrested in December on a Swiss warrant.

He is accused of money laundering, fraud and breach of trust.



Green light
The decision gives the green light for the return of the money, which represents the bulk of assets tied to Sani Abacha in Switzerland. The Swiss have said that it is mostly of “criminal origin”.

It was not immediately clear when the handover would take place.

The Swiss authorities have been investigating bank accounts linked to Sani Abacha since the Nigerian government accused him of looting up to SFr3 billion from state coffers during his rule from 1993 until his death in June 1998.

The following year, Swiss authorities froze SFr870 million in accounts linked to Abacha and his clan.

The Swiss Federal Banking Commission investigated 19 Swiss banks for accepting Abacha money.



Criticism
In a report in August 2000, it criticised a number of banks for “serious omissions and serious individual failure or misconduct”.

The list included three banks in the Credit Suisse Group, as well as Crédit Agricole Indosuez (Switzerland), UBP Union Bancaire Privée and M.M. Warburg Bank (Switzerland).

To date, the Swiss have returned about $200 million to Nigeria, but the Abacha family and associates had tried to block the release of the rest with an appeal to the Lausanne-based court.

Nigeria's government also recovered $146 million from an unidentified bank in Luxembourg in 2001 after the Abacha family released the money, Nigerian officials have said.

British bank accounts linked to Sani Abacha handled transactions totalling $1.3 billion between 1996 and 2000, British investigators said in 2001.

The British High Court at that time authorized the government to find and seize money allegedly looted from Nigeria during Abacha's rule, but in 2002 Nigeria accused Britain of delaying the retrieval of the funds.

Money was also reportedly discovered in Liechtenstein and Jersey.

swissinfo with agencies

God will continue to punish you one by one for making Nigeria Children and youth to suffer.
The rest of you should watch out soon u shall be publicly disgrace

nemesis,

What is a suspended jail term . . the guy go go prison or not??

what do you all mean by 'sins of the father'? if he had no hand in the crime then he wouldn't have been prosecuted.

newmaster:


Much of the money ended up in Swiss bank accounts. Most of the 870 million francs frozen by government authorities in Switzerland has already been returned to the Nigerian government.

So a lot of loot has been returned to the nigerian govt.
Then why do people think that abacha is the only corrupt element in this saga?
Read bw the lines people! !.

Ranoscky:

God don catch u today, Oya taste life inside ile ewon!

school is more ideal. .he'll learn some wisdom.

Isn't the jail term suspended, so he is not actually serving any jail term apart from the time spent in preventive custody,

Suspended sentence means the guy goes scot-free.

Why raining courses on these guys 'ABACHA' What about their looted sums recovered by OBJ from 1999-2003?

Men not defending the guy,but the Suisse economy is based on stilling for centuries anyway. They knew where the money came from in the first place and they still took it no questions asked.

Just 2 yrs?

don_ciccio:

Why raining courses on these guys 'ABACHA' What about their looted sums recovered by OBJ from 1999-2003?

DO YOU THINK AT ALL BEFORE YOU TALK? A THIEF WAS CAUGHT AND AN IDIOT IS SAYING "HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE"

Gayigaskia:

Men not defending the guy,but the Suisse economy is based on stilling for centuries anyway. They knew where the money came from in the first place and they still took it no questions asked.

ITS NEVER TOO LATE TO CORRECT MISTAKES

Adonike:

Definitely, sins of the father,

ITS THE "SINS OF HIS FATHER" THAT MADE HIM KEEP MILLIONS OF UNACCOUNTABLE FRANKS IN 20 BANKS ABI?

Abegiiiiii! Swiss today swiss tomorrow. Where are all the previous acclaimed loots that were returned to Nigerian government? We only hear but we don't see. Next you will know is that it has returned back to swiss again by our  supposed saints(politicians) in the present government. They should allow Abacha's children have some peace of mind with the one their dad accumulated for them too. If this government wants true justice, then they should checkmate themselves first before investigating others. Or is Abacha's crime worst than what our present civilian politicians are doing today? I know that Abacha took his own share of the national cake and he is dead now, so they should allow his children have some peace.

newmaster:

Swiss court sentences dictator's son
by Swisster Staff
June 18, 2010 | 12:23


A Geneva police court on Friday sentenced Abba Abacha, son of the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, to a suspended two-year jail term for participating in a criminal organization.

The court ruled that Abacha could not properly account for the hundreds of millions of francs he kept in 20 bank accounts under different names.

Last fall, an investigating judge orderd the confiscation of 350 million dollars seized by authorities from banks in the Bahamas and Luxembourg.

Abacha’s father is believed to have absconded with three billion francs from Nigerian government coffers between 1993 and 1999, when he died.

Much of the money ended up in Swiss bank accounts. Most of the 870 million francs frozen by government authorities in Switzerland has already been returned to the Nigerian government.

The case against Abacha’s son began in 1999 at the request of the Nigerian governm[b]ent.

He has already spent 561 days in preventive custody.[/b]


http://www.swisster.ch/swiss-court-sentences-dictators-son.html?

thats a lie!!! 561 days where? I attended his sister's wedding last August in Kano and he was there!!

Tcrack:

DO YOU THINK AT ALL BEFORE YOU TALK? A THIEF WAS CAUGHT AND AN IS SAYING "HE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE"ITS NEVER TOO LATE TO CORRECT MISTAKESITS THE "SINS OF HIS FATHER" THAT MADE HIM KEEP MILLIONS OF UNACCOUNTABLE FRANKS IN 20 BANKS ABI?

@tcrack, yes i do think and are u a daiskia? Read btw the lines clearly b4 assumption. Did u see any comment of support for the ABACHA's? However, what about the recovered loots delivered to ur OBJ?

kenmaro:

Abegiiiiii! Swiss today swiss tomorrow. Where are all the previous acclaimed loots that were returned to Nigerian government? We only hear but we don't see. Next you will know is that it has returned back to swiss again by our  supposed saints(politicians) in the present government. They should allow Abacha's children have some peace of mind with the one their dad accumulated for them too. If this government wants true justice, then they should checkmate themselves first before investigating others. Or is Abacha's crime worst than what our present civilian politicians are doing today? I know that Abacha took his own share of the national cake and he is dead now, so they should allow his children have some peace.

@Kenmaro, I hail u.

This is happening cos Abacha is dead. If he is alive it wont happen just like. I hope others face the heat too

eros:

Why should they sentence him to 2 years, that is totally unacceptable. He should have being sentenced to life imprisonment, so that he will never have the opportunity to spend this looted fund.

sesman:

Isn't the jail term suspended, so he is not actually serving any jail term apart from the time spent in preventive custody,

Absolutely. He is a free man