Posted by From Lillian Okenwa in Abuja on
Head of the United King-dom Central Authority for Organised Crimes and International Directorate at the Home Office, Mr. Simon Regis, yesterday in Abuja said that the late military leader, General Sani Abacha, laundered about $1.3 billion through UK banks.
Head of the United King-dom Central Authority for Organised Crimes and International Directorate at the Home Office, Mr. Simon Regis, yesterday in Abuja said that the late military leader, General Sani Abacha, laundered about $1.3 billion through UK banks.
Regis who is in Nigeria along with two other colleagues to train members of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) made the disclosure while fielding questions from newsmen.
Responding to a question on UK's commitment to collaborating with Nigeria in fighting corruption, Regis said: "In terms of Abacha money in the UK, when the case came to light, our financial services authority conducted an investigation.
"A lot of banks were found to have adopted procedures that were less than appropriate. Those procedures were rectified.
"What was discovered was that at least $1.3 billion was laundered through the UK."
He said appropriate Nigerian ministries were aware of this and that they could throw more light on the issue.
He, however, pointed out that there was a civil suit and an order of court on the recovery of the money. Regis said that because the suit was civil, his office was not involved, adding that UK was committed to help Nigeria in the fight against corruption.
Abacha who was Head of State from 1993 until he died in 1998, was believed to have stolen more than $3 billion and kept in various bank accounts in Europe. The Obasanjo administration has since inception in 1999 been making efforts to get Abacha loot repatriated.
The latest of such efforts is the $500 million which the Switzerland Supreme Court has ordered repatriated to Nigeria.
Regis also said that there had been increase in the number of requests for assistance from Nigeria on cases involving money laundering and other offences.
Nigeria, he noted, was not one of the countries that made the highest requests for assistance to the UK on money laundering and other related offences.
According to him, since 1993 when his department was established, Nigeria had referred 20 cases to his office while the UK Home Office sent 44 to Nigeria.
"But particular case like that of the Abacha's forced us to work closely with Nigeria," he said. "Lessons were learnt from the Abacha case, but we are doing our best to block all loopholes," he added.
He pointed out that there were legal hurdles that were hindering UK's assistance to Nigeria in repatriating stolen funds.
Regis said that banks have the responsibility to report suspicious transactions to the appropriate authorities.
He said that there must be a court order before an account could be investigated. According to him, due process must be followed in the investigation and prosecution of money laundering cases.
Mr. Anthony Wilson of the Serious Frauds Office also from the UK Home Office said that it was not correct to accuse his country of paying lip service to the fight against corruption in Africa and especially in Nigeria.
According to him, there are jurisdictional problems. He said that UK did not have automatic jurisdiction to try Nigerians but that Nigeria was the best place to prosecute suspects.
He said, "We do not just go after people on mere suspicions, we have to follow due process.
"We do not go looking for things, we deal with requests from countries.
"The crime must be reported to us first before we can begin investigation."
Another member of the team, Mr. John Richards of the Metropolitan Police said his office also received requests on fraud related issues from Nigeria and other African countries.
In the past 18 months, Richards said that his office received five requests from Nigeria on stolen cars.
Mr. Musa Bello Mustapha who represented EFCC Chairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, said that the UK Home Office had been very helpful in the commission's investigation.