A Jersey court has ruled that assets worth £6.9m ($8.9m) can be returned to Nigeria after the country’s Attorney General served a forfeiture notice to the Royal Court in November.
The court has found that the money, which had been deposited in a Jersey bank account, was likely stolen by Nigerian Government officials in 2014.
The funds were transferred under the guise of government-sanctioned contracts for arms purchases during incursions by Boko Haram in Nigeria between 2009 and 2015.
It is believed that most of the funds intended for legitimate arms deals were diverted through foreign bank accounts to and from shell companies.
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The Attorney General’s office has said that the money went to family members of the former ruling party and was shared amongst its members during the 2015 general elections in Nigeria.
The government of Jersey has said that the tainted property was to be used for an “illicit transaction”. The next step is to negotiate the return of the assets with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Mark Temple KC, His Majesty’s Attorney General, has said that the government of Jersey has worked closely with Nigeria to recover the property on behalf of the people of Nigeria.
He added that the case highlights the effectiveness of the 2018 Forfeiture Law in recovering the proceeds of corruption and restoring the money to the victims of crime.
He now intends to negotiate an asset return agreement with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Source: BBC News
