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Travel / Re: Woman Dies After Falling Off Husband’s Motorcycle On The Way To Church In Ogun by ORACLE1975(m): 6:50am On Jan 09, 2023
What?
Politics / Re: Atiku Did Not Include Primary, Secondary And University Names On His INEC Form by ORACLE1975(m): 6:33am On Jun 29, 2022
Good morning good people
Politics / Re: Jamil Abubakar Denies Endorsing Deborah's Murder, Threatens Legal Action by ORACLE1975(m): 5:14pm On May 15, 2022
Shege kana Keira haba

Politics / Re: Where Will INEC Store Electoral Materials As CBN Governor Runs For Presidency? by ORACLE1975(m): 1:28pm On May 12, 2022
Why CBN?
Politics / Re: Deji Adeyanju Accuses Peter Obi Of Glorifying Poverty by ORACLE1975(m): 6:38am On May 09, 2022
Let me wait for ........

1 Like

Politics / Re: 2023: End Of The Road For Jonathan’s Rumoured Presidential Bid? by ORACLE1975(m): 6:37am On May 09, 2022
Another madness
Politics / Re: Emefiele Heads For Court As Anger Spreads Over Presidential Ambition by ORACLE1975(m): 6:36am On May 09, 2022
Madness everywhere
Crime / Re: NDLEA Uncovers ₦22 Billion Worth Of Tramadol Imported By Ukatu by ORACLE1975(m): 1:09pm On May 03, 2022
Again?
Crime / Re: NDLEA Uncovers ₦22 Billion Worth Of Tramadol Imported By Ukatu by ORACLE1975(m): 1:08pm On May 03, 2022
What?
Politics / Re: Tension In PDP As CUPP, Others Call For Anyanwu's Sack As National Scribe by ORACLE1975(m): 4:50pm On May 02, 2022
Welcome
Politics / Re: Train Attack: Terrorists Release Sadiq Ango Abdullahi by ORACLE1975(m): 5:25am On May 02, 2022
Okay
Politics / Re: Solomon Dalung: APC Government Is Like A Mad Man With Matches At Filling Station by ORACLE1975(m): 5:24am On May 02, 2022
Good morning my people
Politics / Re: What Kind Of President Do You Want In 2023? by ORACLE1975(m): 11:29am On Apr 26, 2022
Y
Politics / Re: 2023: Amaechi's Daura Title Boost To Igbo Presidency - Ohaneze by ORACLE1975(m): 6:10am On Feb 07, 2022
Hmmm
Crime / Re: Timothy Adegoke's Brother, Olugbade Escapes Kidnapping Attempt In Oyo by ORACLE1975(m): 4:49pm On Dec 13, 2021
What?
Politics / Re: Mohammed Jamiu Addresses Supporters, Asks Them To Remain Focused by ORACLE1975(m): 12:47pm On Aug 16, 2021
Madness
Sports / Re: Goodbye Arsenal: The End Of An Era( Arsenal Fan Farewell Letter) by ORACLE1975(m): 1:42pm On Aug 15, 2021
What
Politics / Sani Abacha - The Hunt For The Billions Stolen By Nigeria's Ex-leader by ORACLE1975(m): 12:54pm On Jan 28, 2021
When Nigeria's then-head of state Sani Abacha stole billions of dollars and died before spending his loot, it prompted an international treasure hunt spread over decades. The man hired to get the money back tells the BBC's Clare Spencer how the search took over his life.

In September 1999, Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini answered a phone call that would change his next 20 years.

"He called me in the middle of the night, he asked me if I could come to his hotel, he had something of importance. I said: 'It's a bit late but OK.'"

The voice on the end of the line was that of a high-ranking member of the Nigerian government.

'Can you find the money?'
Mr Monfrini says the official was sent to Geneva by the Nigerian president at the time, Olusegun Obasanjo, to recruit him to get hold of the money stolen by Abacha, who ruled from 1993 until his death in 1998.

As a lawyer, Mr Monfrini had built up a Nigerian client base since the 1980s, working in coffee, cocoa and other commodities.

He suspects those clients recommended him.

"He asked me: 'Can you find the money and can you block the money? Can you arrange that this money be returned to Nigeria?'

"I said: 'Yes.' But in fact I didn't know much about the work at that time. And I had to learn very quickly, so I did."


image Enrico Monfrini spent 20 years fighting to return the money Abacha stole
To get started, the Nigerian police handed him the details of a few closed Swiss bank accounts, which appeared to be holding some of the money Abacha and his associates had stolen, Mr Monfrini wrote in the book Recovering Stolen Assets.

He said that a preliminary investigation published by the police in November 1998 found that more than $1.5bn (£1.1bn) was stolen by Abacha and his associates.

'Dollars by the truckload'
One of the methods used for accumulating such a colossal sum was particularly brazen.

Abacha would tell an adviser to make a request to him for money for a vague security issue.

He then signed off the request which the adviser would then take to the central bank, which would hand out the money, often in cash.

The adviser would then take most of that money to Abacha's house.

Some was even taken in dollar notes "by the truckload", Mr Monfrini wrote.

This was just one way Abacha and his associates stole huge amounts of money. Other methods ranged from awarding state contracts to friends at highly inflated prices and then pocketing the difference and demanding foreign companies pay huge kickbacks to operate in the country.

1996 photo shows Sani Abacha at the airport of Abuja in front of soldiers
I
image captionAbacha stole more than a billion dollars by pretending the money was needed for "security"
1px transparent line
This went on for around three years until everything changed when Abacha died suddenly, aged 54, on 8 June 1998.

It is unclear whether he had had a heart attack or was poisoned because there was no post-mortem, his personal doctor told the BBC.

Abacha died before spending the stolen billions and a few bank details served as clues as to where that money was stashed.

"The documents showing the history of the accounts gave me a few links to other accounts," said Mr Monfrini.

Armed with this information he took the issue to the Swiss attorney general.

And then came a breakthrough.

Mr Monfrini successfully argued that the Abacha family and their associates formed a criminal organisation.

This was key because it opened up more options for how the authorities could deal with their bank accounts.

Presentational grey line
Who was Sani Abacha?

Picture dated 30 August shows Nigerian President General Sani Abacha at the last session of the summit meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abuja. Britain ruled out 22 October allowing a Nigerian delegation to attend the next Commonwealth summit scheduled to begin 24 October in Edinburgh. "They would need visas to get over here and under the present restrictions they would be unable to obtain them". Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth after the execution of nine human rights activists in November 1995.

Fought in Nigeria's army during the civil war
Key player in two coups before becoming minister of defence in August 1993
Became head of state in a military coup in November 1993
His government accused of widespread human rights abuses
Nigeria suspended from The Commonwealth after execution of nine human rights activists in 1995
Died unexpectedly on 8 June 1998, at 54 years old
Father to 10 children
Read more

Presentational grey line
The attorney general issued a general alert to all the banks in Switzerland demanding that they disclose the existence of any accounts opened under the Abachas' names and aliases.

"In 48 hours, 95% of the banks and other financial institutions declared what they had which seemed to belong to the family."

This would uncover a web of bank accounts all over the world.

"Banks would deliver documents to the prosecutor in Geneva and I would do the job of the prosecutor because he didn't have time to do it," Mr Monfrini told the BBC.

'Bank accounts talk a lot'
"We would find out on each account exactly where the money came from and/or where the money went to.

"Showing the ins and outs on these bank accounts gave me further information regarding other payments received from other countries and sent to other countries.

"So it was like a snowball. It started with a few accounts, and then a large amount of accounts, which in turn created a snowball effect indicating a huge international operation.

"Bank accounts and the documents that go with them talk a lot.

"We had so much proof of different money being sent here and there, Bahamas, Nassau, Cayman Islands - you name it."

The size of the Abacha network meant a huge effort for Mr Monfrini.

"Nobody seems to understand how much work it entails. I have to pay so many people, so many accountants, so many other lawyers in different countries."

Mr Monfrini had agreed a commission of 4% on the money sent back to Nigeria. A rate he insists was comparably "very cheap".
image captionIntrigue surrounds Abacha's sudden death in 1998
Finding the money turned out to be relatively quick in comparison to getting it returned to Nigeria.

"The Abachas were fighting like dogs. They were appealing about everything we did. This delayed the process for a very long time."
Further delays came as Swiss politicians argued over whether the money would just be stolen again if it was returned.

Some money was returned from Switzerland after five years.

Mr Monfrini wrote in 2008 that $508m found in the Abacha family's many Swiss bank accounts was sent from Switzerland to Nigeria between 2005 and 2007.

By 2018, the amount Switzerland had returned to Nigeria had reached more than $1bn.


media captionGen Sani Abacha's five-year rule
Other countries were slower to return the cash.

"Liechtenstein, for instance, was a catastrophe. It was a nightmare."

In June 2014, Liechtenstein did eventually send Nigeria $277m.

Six years later, in May 2020, $308m held in accounts based in the Channel Island of Jersey was also returned to Nigeria. This only came after the Nigerian authorities agreed that the money would be used, specifically, to help finance the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Abuja-Kano road.

Some countries are yet to return the loot.

Mr Monfrini is still expecting $30m he says is sitting in the UK to be returned, along with $144m in France and a further $18m in Jersey.

That should be it, "but you never know", he says.

In total, he says his work secured the restitution of just more than $2.4bn.

"At the beginning people said Abacha stole at least $4-$5bn. I don't believe it was the case. I believe we more or less took the most, took a very large chunk, of what they had."

He has heard rumours that the Abacha family are not so wealthy any more.

Or, as he puts it: "They are not swimming in money like they used to do in the past."

When he looks back, he seems satisfied with his work.

"When I speak to my very many children about this case, I tell them I found money and I blocked the money, I persuaded the authorities to go after these people and get the money back to the country for the good of the Nigerian people.

"We did the job."






https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54929254

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W
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So
Politics / Re: Umar Sanda: Bauchi Lost ₦1.062 Billion To Ghost Workers, Pensioners by ORACLE1975(m): 7:13am On Oct 29, 2020
With bvn?
Politics / Re: Police Parade 201 Suspected Looters In Abuja by ORACLE1975(m): 7:13am On Oct 29, 2020
What about the thug
Politics / Re: FinCEN Files: US Places Atiku, Wives, Under International Banking Surveillance by ORACLE1975(m): 1:36pm On Sep 21, 2020
What?
Politics / Re: Jegede Storms Police HQ To Protest Attacks On His Campaign Vehicles By APC Thugs by ORACLE1975(m): 9:25am On Sep 17, 2020
Better
Crime / Re: Customer Shoots Man Dead Over Shawarma, Flees by ORACLE1975(m): 6:25am On Sep 15, 2020
See madness everywhere
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No security
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Mad people
Politics / Re: Lai Mohammed: Buhari Prevented Nigeria From Becoming Failed State by ORACLE1975(m): 5:15am On Sep 14, 2020
Mumu

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Politics / Re: NBA Rules: Lawyers Sign Petition To Strip Malami Of SAN Title by ORACLE1975(m): 4:51am On Sep 14, 2020
Not now
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Two
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Thy are only good in politics

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