The former leader of Nigeria stole billions by shipment – Kaieteur News

The former leader of Nigeria stole billions from the tribes


By Adekunle Yusuf

Former Nigerian leader Sani Abacha

Kaieteur News – The Nation Online – A report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has thrown more light on how the former Gen. military Head of State did. Sani Abacha stole billions of dollars using “security” purposes as cover. The details were released by Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini, who was contracted by the Federal Government in 1999 to track down the public fund robbed by the late military head of state. He spoke exclusively to the British broadcasting giant.
Abacha, who reigned between 1993 and 1998, died in office in mysterious circumstances on June 6, 1998. According to the man hired to get the money back, an international treasure hunt spread over decades revealed the former head of state has stolen billions of dollars by dubious means, including withdrawing comedic money directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for fake projects.
Although Monfrini has built up a huge Nigerian client base as a lawyer since the 1980s, working in the field of coffee, cocoa and other goods, he admitted that he was initially scared to take on the task when he was recruited to get the money and was stolen by Abacha. When asked if he could find the money and block it and arrange for the intermittent money to be returned to Nigeria, he said he accepted the job, “but really, I didn’t know much about the job at that time. And I had to learn very quickly. So did I. ”
Among many brass methods used to accumulate huge sums was Abacha asking a councilor to apply to him for money for a vague security issue. Monfrini said Abacha would then sign the application, which the councilor would then take to the CBN, which often had no qualifications distributing the money, often in cash. The attendant would then take most of the robbery to Abacha’s house – with some taken in dollar notes “by the truck load”.
This is just one way that Abacha and his associates stole huge sums of money. Other methods ranged from awarding state contracts to friends at inflated prices and then pockets the difference and requiring foreign companies to pay huge obstacles to operating in the country. This went on for about three years until everything changed when Abacha died suddenly, aged 54. Although Abacha died before spending billions stolen, Monfrini said a few bank details are clues as to where he got the money that was broken. “The documents showing the accounts history gave me some links to other accounts,” he said.
With the information provided by the then Nigerian government, the lawyer took the matter to the Swiss attorney general, leading to a breakthrough, after he successfully argued that Abacha’s family and their associates had formed a criminal organization who nearly robbed Nigeria blindly. The attorney general issued a general notice to all Swiss banks demanding that they disclose the existence of any accounts opened under the names and aliases of the Abachas. “In 48 hours, 95% of banks and other financial institutions stated what they had that seemed to belong to the family. Banks would deliver documents to the prosecutor in Geneva and we would do the prosecutor’s job because he didn’t have time to do it, ”Monfrini told the BBC.
The success of Swiss banks revealed a web of bank accounts worldwide. “We would find out at all costs exactly where the money came from and / or where the money went. By showing the external inputs and accounts on these bank accounts, I was given more information about other payments received from and sent to other countries.
“So it was like a snowball. It started with a few accounts, and then a whole lot of accounts, which in turn created a snowball effect of massive international operation. Bank accounts and accompanying documents speak a lot. We had so much proof that different money was sent here and there, Bahamas, Nassau, Cayman Islands – you name it, ”said the famous lawyer.
Because of the huge size of Abacha’s network, Monfrini said no one seemed to understand how much work was involved, as he had to pay many people, many accountants, and many other lawyers in many country to get to the heart of the matter. He revealed that he had to agree a 4 per cent commission on the money sent back to Nigeria – a rate he insisted was relatively “very cheap”.
Unfortunately, as it turned out, finding the money was relatively quick compared to his return to Nigeria. “The Abachas were fighting like dogs. They appealed for everything we did. This delayed the process for a very long time. ”Further delays came as Swiss politicians debated whether the money would be stolen again if it were returned.
While Monfrini wrote in 2008 that $ 508m found in Switzerland’s numerous bank accounts, sent from Switzerland to Nigeria between 2005 and 2007, added that the amount that Switzerland had returned to Nigeria had reached more than $ 1bn by 2018. He lamented that other countries were slower to return the cash. “Liechtenstein, for example, was a disaster. It was a nightmare. ”But in June 2014, Liechtenstein eventually sent $ 277m to Nigeria.
Six years later, in May 2020, $ 308m held in accounts at Channel Island Jersey was returned to Nigeria. It was only after the Nigerian authorities agreed that the money would be used, in particular, to help fund the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Abuja-Kano road.
But some countries are yet to return the loot. Monfrini said he still expects $ 30m, which he said sits in the UK, to be returned along with $ 144m in France and another $ 18m in Jersey. Overall, it said its work had secured a recovery of just over $ 2.4bn. “At first, people said Abacha stole at least $ 4- $ 5bn. I don’t think it’s true. I think we probably took the most, took a very big chunk of what they had. They don’t swim in silver like they used to in the past.
“When I talk to my many children about this case, I tell them that I have found money and blocked the money, I persuaded the authorities to chase these people and get the money back to the country for the benefit of the Nigerian people. We did the job, ”Monfrini told the BBC.
Since Abacha’s death, Nigeria has received $ 3.61 billion of the money plundered by its military government and the latest is the $ 311m returned by the United States and British dependency Jersey. According to the anti-corruption agency Transparency International, the military commander stole as much as $ 5bn during his time in office, and Switzerland is believed to have returned about $ 1bn over the past decade.

(Published from thenationonlineng.net)



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