[size=18pt]Swiss court notes on so called "Abacha Loot" case, shows Abacha maliciously and unjustly blamed[/size]

http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf

"
The existence of a system of confiscation orders that is independent
from a criminal conviction is therefore a necessity in grand corruption
cases. In this context, reversing the burden of proof or imposing
procedural consequences on the failure of the asset holder to cooperate
regarding the origin of the assets, appear to be best legislative
practice. The presumption of innocence does not necessarily apply to
confiscation proceedings and ‘presumptions of fact or of law operate
in every criminal-law system and are not prohibited in principle’ and
therefore do not breach the right to a fair trial.28"


[size=18pt]This is 21 page Swiss court document but the above extract is very revealing indeed.

Basically, by qualifying Abacha's family members together with PDP stooges claiming to be Abacha's business associates as a 'Criminal Organisation', Nigerian Government did not need to prove that the funds in the foreign accounts belonged to Abacha, The Onus was on Abacha to proof that he was innocent of the charges.

Of course a deceased man could not do that.

Abacha's son Mohammed could not fully challenge the allegations as he was locked up at the time by Obasanjo.[/size]

I have been amassing a ton of evidence that proves that Abacha never looted.

He was maliciously and mischieviously accussed of looting by the biggest looters the Africa has ever known - Obasanjo, Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar


https://www.nairaland.com/823498/gen-sani-abacha-honest-visionary/13

Are you high on hard-drugs? what business does the Abacha family have on ground in Nigeria or else where to gather such sum? can you recall this statement and read between the lines "no matter how much the Nigerian govt recovers from us, we can never be as poor as Dangote"? just let sleepy dog lye.

^^ Only a fool would make dismissive comments before analysing evidence presented to them that alerts them to the fact that they may have been deceived.

You are free to continue to wallow in your ignorance.

mods
please put this thread on front page

Does nobody else feel like commenting?

This to me, is very shocking!!

where u a member of "YEAA" if u where u will no that the kind of money spent there couldn't have been hard earned money. put your prove forward lets see wat it contains

^Cearly you have not bothered to read the link that was posted

http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf


Please read and then make your comments

How did newspapers suddenly get information from nowhere that Abacha had looted the Central Bank, which seems to be all the excuse that the Abdulsalami Abubakar government needed to effectively commence a fake blind probe of one of best governments in Nigeria's history.

How can a Head of State with all the economic figures that showed that Abacha increased our foreign reserves by $9billiion over his 4.5 year rule , start investigation that Abacha plundered foreign reserves?


[size=20pt]The money Obasanjo claimed he recovered from foreign banks did not belong to Abacha[/size]

GenBuhari: http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf


Culled from page 4 of 21 of above document.


[size=18pt]IV. The Nigerian investigation and criminal proceedings[/size]


Following the death of General Sani Abacha, newspaper articles reported allegations of his plundering of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign reserves and the systematic corruption that prevailed during his regime. The public began to demand that these allegations be investigated.
On 23 July 1998, the Abubakar Government set up a Special Investigation Panel (SIP) with the task of investigating the looting and corruption that took place during the Abacha Government.

The Chairman of the SIP was (and still is) Deputy Commissioner Peter Gana, of the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police Force. The SIP published a preliminary report in November 1998, which focused on the crimes for which evidence could be found in Nigeria, notably the systematic pillage of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The report described the following modus operandi: General Sani Abacha directed Ismaïla Gwarzo, his National Security Adviser, to present him with false funding requests for security operations or equipment, which he had the power to authorise. For the most part, the funds were directly remitted in cash (USD 1,131 million and GBP 413 million) or in travellers’ cheques (USD 50 million and GBP 3.5 million) by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Ismaila Gwarzo, who then had most of the funds taken to General Sani Abacha’s house. From there they were taken by his oldest son, Mohammed Abacha, and laundered through Nigerian banks or by Nigerian or foreign businessmen to offshore accounts belonging to Mohammed Abacha, Abba Abacha, Abdulkadir Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu. In a limited number of cases (thirtysix transfers, totalling USD 386 million), the monies were transferred directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria by wire to bank accounts abroad, held by offshore companies belonging either to members of the Abacha criminal organisation or to Nigerian or foreign businessmen,who then remitted the same sums to members of the organisation.At least USD 1,491 million and GBP 416 million had thus been found by the SIP to have been embezzled by the Abacha criminal
organisation.

[size=18pt]Abacha family representative challenges FG to produce evidence of money they falsely claimed was recovered[/size]


Reuben Atabor is the legal counsel to the family of late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha. In this interview with Agaju Madugba in Kaduna he insists that former President Olusegun Obasanjo should give Nigerians account of the sum of over $450 million confiscated from the Abacha family.

The Abacha family:
I would not say that the Abacha family is a controversial family, but when you look for their trouble they will hit you back. Any human being would do the same. If somebody looks for their trouble, they will not fold their arms and watch. They have to defend themselves; and that should not be interpreted to mean that they are controversial.”
Describing the Abacaha family as “humble,” Atabor said that the family succeeded in retrieving Durbar Hotel from the federal Government, through the judicial process.
As he put it, “the Federal Government went on an appeal and the appeal is yet to be determined. Without the determination of the appeal, it will not be wise to start putting money there, even though it is now under the control of the family and the company that acquired it.

The so -called "Abacha loot":
According to Atabor, “it is not the Abacha family that said that government took $500 million from them. It was the government that said it recovered the amount. Obasanjo said he collected over $400 million from Switzerland. Have you seen any trace of it?

“Why is it that Nigerians cannot ask questions regarding what Obasanjo did with that money? We are in a democratic setting, not military. You are entitled to go to Ota and ask Baba or find out from the minister of finance under Obasanjo. They should tell Nigerians what they did with the money. It is a legitimate question.
I am not the banker or the Abacha family accounts officer; and they do not keep their money with me. But the former President said he recovered well over $450 million to $500 million. Nigerians should ask him what he did with the money.

The former National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusua, pursued the case. Nigerians should also find out from him. Did they build a library with it or did they buy a presidential jet?”
As lawyer to the family:
“It is like rendering service to any client. By the grace of God, I have other clients and we handle some other cases. If anybody abuses me for defending the Abacha family, that is his own cup of tea. Lawyers are defending Husni Mubarak of Egypt. The family of the late Gaddafi has taken the government of this country to court for the way their father was murdered”.

Fuel subsidy:
According to Atabor the Federal Government has no reasons, whatsoever, to remove subsidy on fuel, given the enormous amount of money at its disposal.
“If government has such money, like the $500 million dollars it said it had recovered from the Abacha family, how much of it has been used for the benefit of Nigerians? Do not forget, when the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar addressed the delegates during the PDP convention, he stated categorically that our external reserves of about $20 billion had been reduced to $3 billion within eight months.

Recently, Obasanjo also cried out that our foreign reserve is depleting. We are watching; and I believe in God that one day we will get there.
It is unfortunate that in 2012, we are still talking about fuel subsidy. In 2012, Nigeria is still talking about importation of fuel. Crude oil was discovered in Nigeria in the fifties, and up till now we cannot refine to take care of our local consumption. It is unfortunate that in Nigeria today, we cannot refine fuel. That we cannot build or maintain our refineries is a problem of the leadership. Nigeria is a member of OPEC; and find out how many members of OPEC import fuel into their countries. Do Libya, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and others import fuel for their local consumption? Pakistan gets its oil from Yemen and Yemen refines fuel for local consumption at 25 cents but they sell to Pakistan at one dollar. Yemen processes the oil for the benefit of its people. So, what are we talking about?

Nigeria should focus on other avenues of generating money. The greatest assets of any nation are human beings and land, before we talk about other resources. God has given us all these, but we continue to under utilize them. We do not lack active and hard working people in this country; we have the mineral resources; we have the land. So why should we be where we are. The leadership should rise up to the occasion to bring Nigeria out of this; and it is not only by removing fuel subsidy. There are other assets and resources that can make Nigeria great. What of the income from the Ports Authority and Customs?

Government is meant to cater for the welfare of its citizens. They talk of palliatives. What palliatives? Is it the importation of buses? If you go to the United Kingdom, the railways are there, the bus services are there. You buy your ticket which can last you for a whole day. The taxis are there for those who can afford them. But here, the railways are not working. The ones we inherited from the colonial masters are moribund. The buses are not available. What the common people ought to enjoy is this fuel. For me, the so-called subsidy should not have been removed. Nigerians should benefit from the oil the country has.

I appreciate the courage of the governor of Niger state. He said that they, in government, took Nigerians for granted; and that they saw the repercussion. I also appreciate the courage of the President when he apologized to the international community. Since I was born, I have never seen the kind of protest as carried out by Labour and civil society groups; and thank God that God gave them the wisdom to call it off. Otherwise, it would have been something else. We need peace in Nigeria for any business to go on, and for government to even run. I believe the President has learnt a lot from the episode. It was a big mistake for somebody to hike the fuel pump price from N65 to N141, considering the nature of the economy of Nigeria and considering the increase that had been done by his predecessors. That was the highest ever recorded in the history of Nigeria.
The protests achieved a lot. If not for the protests, you would not have been buying fuel at N97 per litre. The difference between N97 and N141 is a lot of money. There is no truth if someone says the protests did not achieve anything”.

Boko Haram:
“It is rather unfortunate that while we are trying to find ways of solving the problem, some saboteurs are there. I am happy with the directive that the Inspector-General of Police should fish out the suspect who escaped. The DPO who handled the matter and the commissioner of police in charge of the case should be directed to bring back the suspect. Otherwise, it will be setting a dangerous precedent in this country.

If I were in the President’s shoes, I would not make public the statement that Boko Haram has infiltrated the government. Jonathan is at the helm of affairs in the country and he went ahead to say that Boko Haram has infiltrated his government. Then it is for him to fish them out and kick them out of the system. This is because the generality of Nigerians do not welcome Boko Haram. He should not have made that statement. The best he should have done was to disseminate the information to few members of his cabinet and see how he can deal with the situation”.

http://www.peoplesdaily-online.com/politics/the-analysis/28751-what-happened-to-the-abacha-loot-asks-familys-lawyer


[size=22pt]The money Obasanjo claimed he recovered from foreign banks did not belong to Abacha[/size]

[size=22pt]V. Civil proceedings in the United Kingdom[/size]


When it assumed power in May 1999, the Obasanjo Government had
misgivings regarding the possibility of obtaining assistance from
Western authorities to trace and recover the assets that had been embezzled
or corruptly received by the Abacha criminal organisation.
In July 1999, the Federal Republic of Nigeria commenced an action
before the London High Court against Mohammed Abacha,
Abubakar Bagudu and their companies regarding the Ajaokuta Steel
Plant debt buy-back fraud. This action concerned the buy-back in
1996 by the Abacha Government of bills of exchange relating to the
building of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant owed to a Russian company for
DEM 986 million, which had resulted in a fraudulent profit of over
DEM 490 million for the Abacha criminal organisation. In March
1999, Compagnie Noga d'Importation et d'Exportation SA, a Genevabased
company, had lodged its own action against the same defendants,
claiming that it had been assigned the Nigerian bills of exchange
in 1992. Worldwide Mareva injunctions were ordered, and
Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu were ordered to disclose
their worldwide assets, which they claimed to amount to USD 420
million.
Settlement negotiations took place in July and August 1999, and
the Federal Government of Nigeria, unaware that it could identify,
freeze and recover assets other than those that had been disclosed by
Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu in the context of the London
High Court proceedings, agreed to settle its claims for DEM 300
million. In September 1999, a mini trial began, the purpose of which
was to determine which of three settlement documents was binding.
The Nigerian Government’s position was that it had only settled its
claims deriving from the Ajaokuta debt buy-back, whereas Mohammed
Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu claimed that all claims against
them and their associates had been settled. On 27 February 2001, following
a six month trial, Lord Justice Rix handed down a judgment in
favour of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which was implemented in
December 2001 with the payment of DEM 300 million, plus costs.
The fact that the Federal Republic of Nigeria could demonstrate,
thanks to the results of criminal proceedings and mutual assistance
proceedings initiated in other jurisdictions, that Mohammed Sani
Abacha and his associates had grossly breached their duty of disclosure,
notably by failing to disclose USD 600 million in Switzerland,
USD 630 million in Luxembourg and USD 200 million in Liechtenstein,
was instrumental to this result.
In July 2001, new civil proceedings were commenced before the
High Court of London, in connection with the plundering of the Central
Bank of Nigeria, but these have not allowed making any additional
recovery.


http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf




[size=20pt]The money Obasanjo claimed he recovered from foreign banks did not belong to Abacha[/size]

Abacha was a thief.

Reuben Atabor is a fool.

The Swiss have nothing to gain by discrediting Abacha.

the mentioned monies in the bolded block below , is monies that Obasanjo did not have to prove belonged to Abacha, because the burden of truth was reversed, meaning the deceased Abacha was expected to prove that the money in question was not looted by him.



In what part of the world can this be considered a fair trial?

GenBuhari: [size=22pt]V. Civil proceedings in the United Kingdom[/size]


When it assumed power in May 1999, the Obasanjo Government had
misgivings regarding the possibility of obtaining assistance from
Western authorities to trace and recover the assets that had been embezzled
or corruptly received by the Abacha criminal organisation.
In July 1999, the Federal Republic of Nigeria commenced an action
before the London High Court against Mohammed Abacha,
Abubakar Bagudu and their companies regarding the Ajaokuta Steel
Plant debt buy-back fraud. This action concerned the buy-back in
1996 by the Abacha Government of bills of exchange relating to the
building of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant owed to a Russian company for
DEM 986 million, which had resulted in a fraudulent profit of over
DEM 490 million for the Abacha criminal organisation. In March
1999, Compagnie Noga d'Importation et d'Exportation SA, a Genevabased
company, had lodged its own action against the same defendants,
claiming that it had been assigned the Nigerian bills of exchange
in 1992. Worldwide Mareva injunctions were ordered, and
Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu were ordered to disclose
their worldwide assets, which they claimed to amount to USD 420
million.
Settlement negotiations took place in July and August 1999, and
the Federal Government of Nigeria, unaware that it could identify,
freeze and recover assets other than those that had been disclosed by
Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu in the context of the London
High Court proceedings, agreed to settle its claims for DEM 300
million. In September 1999, a mini trial began, the purpose of which
was to determine which of three settlement documents was binding.
The Nigerian Government’s position was that it had only settled its
claims deriving from the Ajaokuta debt buy-back, whereas Mohammed
Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu claimed that all claims against
them and their associates had been settled. On 27 February 2001, following
a six month trial, Lord Justice Rix handed down a judgment in
favour of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which was implemented in
December 2001 with the payment of DEM 300 million, plus costs.
The fact that the Federal Republic of Nigeria could demonstrate,
thanks to the results of criminal proceedings and mutual assistance
proceedings initiated in other jurisdictions, that Mohammed Sani
Abacha and his associates had grossly breached their duty of disclosure,
notably by failing to disclose USD 600 million in Switzerland,
USD 630 million in Luxembourg and USD 200 million in Liechtenstein,
was instrumental to this result.
In July 2001, new civil proceedings were commenced before the
High Court of London, in connection with the plundering of the Central
Bank of Nigeria, but these have not allowed making any additional
recovery.
http://www.mcswisslaw.com/pages_e/2008%20Monfrini%20-%20The%20Abacha%20Case.pdf

[size=20pt]The money Obasanjo claimed he recovered from foreign banks did not belong to Abacha[/size]

@ PhysicQED,

So basically the fact that I am presenting evidence to show how the Swiss conspired to discredit Abacha, does not mean anything because in your mind the Swiss authorities are saintly and beyond reproach?


Is it not the same Swiss authorites that conspire daily with looters to assist them to embezzle money from Nigeria.

Is Obasanjo not the biggest looter in African history? is Obasanjo not the Swiss banks biggest customer for looted money? Why would the Swiss not assist their biggest source of looted wealth?



Please put you brain in gear and start thinking for yourself.

PhysicsQED: Abacha was a thief.

Reuben Atabor is a fool.

The Swiss have nothing to gain by discrediting Abacha.

[size=20pt]The money Obasanjo claimed he recovered from foreign banks did not belong to Abacha[/size]

I don't think the Swiss authorities are saintly. I just don't see the angle/benefit for the Swiss in showing that they helped African dictators stash stolen money.

I think OBJ is a thief.

I just think Abacha was also a thief and I think you're deluding yourself.

Well[img]http://www.50centloseweight.com[/img]

BUMP[img]http://www.50centloseweight.com[/img]

I know it is impossible to penetrate some people with reason, but there has to a SOLID reason for Abacha's son to still be standing trial and contesting that the funds for which he was being tried belongs to him:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/swiss-court-orders-retrial-of-abachas-son/
http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/06/22/abachas-son-to-face-fresh-swiss-trial/

^
I am presenting evidence to you, and you keep repeating the same lies that have been fed to you by Obj.

Abacha's sons are only said to be standing trials to give their lies credibility.


Did you know the age of Abba Abacha at the time of his father's death?

approx 16 years old!

Now he is said to be standing trial for being part of a criminal organisation, that includes most of his family members and associates who have turned out to be hired corrupt PDP politician who have since been rewarded by lucrative appointments and contracts Obj/ PDP government.

Please take the time and read evidence I am presenting and stop regurgitating lies you have been fed.



[size=20pt]The money Obasanjo claimed he recovered from foreign banks did not belong to Abacha[/size]

@ PhysicQED,
I repeat my answer to you:

So basically the fact that I am presenting evidence to show how the Swiss conspired to discredit Abacha, does not mean anything because in your mind the Swiss authorities are saintly and beyond reproach?


Is it not the same Swiss authorites that conspire daily with looters to assist them to embezzle money from Nigeria.

Is Obasanjo not the biggest looter in African history? is Obasanjo not the Swiss banks biggest customer for looted money? Why would the Swiss not assist their biggest source of looted wealth?

My friend the difference between you and me is that I have taken time to actually research the facts and all you are referring to are news stories which were lies fed to newspapers by Obasanjo.

Who is deluding themselves? You or me ?

PhysicsQED: I don't think the Swiss authorities are saintly. I just don't see the angle/benefit for the Swiss in showing that they helped African dictators stash stolen money.

I think OBJ is a thief.

I just think Abacha was also a thief and I think you're deluding yourself.

[size=20pt]The money Obasanjo claimed he recovered from foreign banks did not belong to Abacha[/size]

All this occured becuase our news / press media did not bother to probe anything Obasanjo / IBB / Abdulsalami Abubakar said.

dirifred: Are you high on hard-drugs? what business does the Abacha family have on ground in Nigeria or else where to gather such sum? can you recall this statement and read between the lines "no matter how much the Nigerian govt recovers from us, we can never be as poor as Dangote"? just let sleepy dog lye.

The problem with people like you is that once you had your convictions(whether right or wrong) you will cease to make further enquirers. Your post showed that you did not even read what the OP posted and rushed into commenting.
The OP clearly stated that that is not Abacha's money and you are still asking "what business does the Abacha family have on ground in Nigeria or else where to gather such sum?" gather which sums i ask ? the ones that never belongs to him or the ones you kept for him ? If they had claimed ownership to the said money then you would have the right to ask them where and how they made such amount then from their answers and evidence you can make your judgement.

[size=30pt]when will you ever stop?[/size]

dirifred: where u a member of "YEAA" if u where u will no that the kind of money spent there couldn't have been hard earned money. put your prove forward lets see wat it contains

With a president(Goodluck Jonathan) that used more that 50 Billion just for inauguration i consider your comments hypocritical.
With a president(GEJ) that has borrowed just in his tenure more that all former presidents has borrowed combined together --another hypocrisy.

If you could say the same of Abacha then their might be a chance you are just wrong(and not stupendously ignorant).

thoth:

With a president(Goodluck Jonathan) that used more that 50 Billion just for inauguration i consider your comments hypocritical.
With a president(GEJ) that has borrowed just in his tenure more that all former presidents has borrowed combined together --another hypocrisy.

If you could say the same of Abacha then their might be a chance you are just wrong(and not stupendously ignorant).

whatever GEJ or any other President does after Abacha, does not make Abacha a saint.
Hating on Abacha does not make me a supporter of anyone.
You love resurrecting Abacha because of your limited religious and ethnic outlook.

O.D.B.:


whatever GEJ or any other President does after Abacha, does not make Abacha a saint.
Hating on Abacha does not make me a supporter of anyone.
You love resurrecting Abacha because of your limited religious and ethnic outlook.

I rather you make comparisons,speculations and judgement based on evidence and verifiable data and not reduce this whole debate to ethnic and religious squables.

^ Gbam!

This evidence are so explosive that NL mods seem to afraid to put it on front page despite my request

Many thanks[img]http://www.50centloseweight.com[/img]

you are very welcome