Two senior lawyers from the United
States of America have asked the Attorney-General of the country, Eric Holder
Jr., to without delay repatriate the $458m assets stolen by a former Head of
State, Gen. Sani Abacha, and his accomplices to Nigeria. Alexander Sierck and Nicholai Diamond
of Cameron LPP in Washington DC sent the letter of request dated March 18, 2014
to the attorney-general as volunteer counsels for the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project.
In the letter entitled: ‘Re: Abacha
Kleptocracy Forfeiture Action’, which SERAP made available to our correspondent
on Wednesday, the lawyers said, “SERAP respectfully requests that the US
Department of Justice establish a general process for the repatriation of
assets seized as part of its Kleptocracy Initiative.
“SERAP’s request arises in the
specific context of the department’s March 6, 2014 announcement that it has
frozen more than $458m in corruption proceeds, which have been hidden in bank
accounts around the world by former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and
conspirators, to implement the civil forfeiture complaint filed in federal
district court here in Washington.
“As the department stated in its
press release announcing the seizure, these seized funds properly belong to the
citizens the kleptocrats ostensibly served.”
According to the lawyers, even though
the department has only recently filed the civil forfeiture complaint regarding
the Abacha-related assets, SERAP respectfully submits that its request is
nonetheless timely in regard to such assets.
They said, “This is because in many
such cases, the kleptocrats owning the seized property do not appear in the US
to contest the seizure because they would then subject themselves to personal
jurisdiction in the underlying criminal case that might be filed against them.
Thus, at some point, perhaps by the end of 2014, there will be a default on the
Abacha asset seizure, consequently freeing up the assets for repatriation to or
for the benefit of Nigeria and its citizens.”
“SERAP notes that in a September 19,
2011 interview with the Main Justice blog, Jennifer Shasky, speaking on behalf
of the Kleptocracy Initiative, stated that the department has no [legal]
obligation to repatriate assets subject to civil forfeiture, but that the
department is committed to finding ways to repatriate or otherwise use such
funds for the benefit of the victim country. SERAP assumes that this is still
the department’s position.”
Source: Punch
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