Swiss officials have said they will be returning about
$380 million stolen by former dictator, Gen. Sani
Abacha, to Nigeria.
Geneva prosecutors, according to the Associated Press
(AP), said on Tuesday that they ordered the money
seized in Luxembourg starting in 2006. It was
transferred to Switzerland and officially confiscated last
year following an agreement between the federal
government and the Abacha family under which the
Nigerian government dropped its case against the late
dictator’s son, Abba Abacha.
The money, confiscated on the basis that the Abacha
family was a criminal organisation, will now be
returned to Nigeria under World Bank supervision.
Geneva prosecutors closed their own case, opened in
1999, in which Abba Abacha was the last person still
under investigation.
The $380 million had been placed in several accounts
abroad that were controlled by the Abacha family, the
Geneva prosecutors’ office said in a statement.
The money was seized in 2006 in Luxembourg, under
orders from the Swiss authorities.
The Abacha family had also placed some $500 million
(530 million euros) in Swiss banks, though those funds
have already been returned to Nigeria.
The $380 million will be returned under the World
Bank’s supervision, said the prosecutor’s office.
The authorities have also decided to drop their case
against Abba Abacha, which began in 1999.
In 2012, the dictator’s son was handed a one-year
suspended prison sentence for participating in a
criminal organisation.
Switzerland’s top court cancelled the sentence in May
2014, citing procedural reasons.
The Geneva prosecutor’s office yesterday said Abba
Abacha had been detained for 561 days from 2004 to
2006, without receiving compensation.
The Abacha affair began in 1999, when Nigeria asked
the Swiss judicial authorities to help it recover $2.2
billion ($2 billion euros) embezzled and siphoned off by
Sani Abacha while he was in power.
Last December, the State of Jersey, the biggest territory
in the Channels Island, announced that it would return
£315 million Abacha loot to Nigeria.
The Island famous for its transparent banking services
had previously repatriated in two tranches £140 million
of the loot.
The money was laundered on behalf of Abacha by Raj
Bhojwani, an Indian businessman.
Bhojwani is currently serving an eight-year sentence in
a UK prison.

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