Switzerland to Return Part of Looted Money to NigeriaThe Swiss government has agreed to hand over to Nigeria some of the money held in bank accounts linked to the late Nigerian military ruler, General Sani Abacha.The British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) Saturday quoted a judicial official in Geneva as saying on Friday that 66 million U.S. dollars was being returned to the Nigerian authorities. More than 600 million dollars is still frozen in Swiss accounts said to belong to the general, his family and associates. Nigeria's yera-old democratic government is keen to retrieve the millions that were embezzled by the general, who died in 1998. In May, Luxembourg announced it had frozen bank accounts associated with the late Nigerian ruler containing a total of 600 million dollars. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo believes General Abacha siphoned off a total of 3 billion dollars, of which about two thirds has been traced to bank accounts in various European countries. Nigeria's administration says General Abacha used a circle of family members, close aides and business associates to dispose of the cash which he plundered from the state. It was amassed by awarding contracts to front companies, accepting massive bribes, and by siphoning money directly from the Nigerian treasury. |
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