By David Olalekan.
A bank account reportedly stashed with £211m (approximately N82bn) has been linked to former Head of State, General Sani Abacha.
The reported sum was discovered and confiscated in Jersey, Channel Islands, on the directive of the U.S Government.
The late dictator is perceived to have laundered the funds through the United States into the Channel Islands shortly before his death in 1998.
According to Metro UK’s report yesterday, “the money was put in accounts held in Jersey by Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company.
“The money is now being held by the government until authorities in Jersey, the US and Nigeria come to an agreement on how it should be distributed”, it said.
The report further suggests that the £211m loot will be kept in Jersey’s Criminal Confiscation Fund, which could be utilized to fund several projects on the island.
Robert MacRae, Jersey’s Attorney General, said, “In restraining the funds at the request of the United States of America, through whose banking system the funds were laundered prior to arriving here, and in achieving the payment of the bulk of the funds into the Civil Asset Recovery Fund, Jersey has once again demonstrated its commitment to tackling international financial crime and money laundering.”