Abacha Family Permitted Judicial Review

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-news.com, London

08 June 2001

The son of the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, has won the right to challenge the decision made by Jack Straw to override current UK legislation in order to recover the more than $2 billion allegedly embezzled by General Abacha from the country's public funds, it was revealed recently.

In March of this year, the Financial Services Authority revealed that more than $1.3 billion had been laundered through UK banks, after the Nigerian government asked that 26 bank accounts in 15 London banks be frozen, together with those into which funds have been transferred from named accounts. It has also asked that the assets of 14 members of the Abacha family and associates, and 26 companies associated with the former leader be seized. However, under British law as it stands at present, substantial circumstantial evidence of wrongdoing is not sufficient to allow investigation, and only the bank accounts of charged or convicted criminals can be frozen and investigated.

In May, almost nine months after the Nigerian government had requested mutual legal assistance, Jack Straw gave the go-ahead for the UK authorities to override this provision and co-operate with Nigerian investigators, after substantial international pressure and a damning investigation by the Swiss authorities. However, the Abacha family requested a judicial review into the Home Secretary's decision, which has since been granted.

Mohammed Abacha, the General's son, and his London based partner Abubakar Bagudu, claim that the family has repaid approximately $800 million to the Nigerian government, and that as a result of this, they have been granted immunity from further action under the country's Decree 53. They also claim that the government is trying to seize unconnected assets, and that the failure to issue proceedings against many of the other individuals named in the request for mutual legal assistance constitutes a contravention of the regulations surrounding this type of request.

At present investigators are unsure as to the amount of money still in the London bank accounts, and believe that the long delay gave the family a chance to transfer significant amounts out of the country. The matter is further complicated by the fact that at least some of the money is thought to be in Mohammed Abacha's name, rather than his father's.

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