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US
authorities plan to confiscate the "Galactica Star" a yacht owned by
a Nigerian oil executive, in an effort to recoup funds earned through a dirty
contracts awarded by Nigeria's former oil minister.
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US officials said Friday
they plan to confiscate US$144 million in corruption-tainted assets of Nigerian
oil executives found in the United States including an US$80 million yacht the
"Galactica Star."
AFP
report continues:
The
yacht and a US$50 million condominium overlooking New York's famed Central Park
were among the riches tied to dirty contracts awarded by Nigeria's former oil
minister between 2011 and 2015, the US Justice Department said statement.
"The
United States is not a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption," acting
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco said.
"Corrupt
foreign officials and business executives should make no mistake: if illicit
funds are within the reach of the United States, we will seek to forfeit them
and to return them to the victims from whom they were stolen."
The
assets were purchased using proceeds of oil sector contracts awarded by
Nigeria's former minister for petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who
oversaw the state oil company, according to the Justice Department.
Prosecutors
allege she accepted bribes from oil executives Kolawole Akanni Aluko and
Olajide Omokore, who spent millions of dollars buying and furnishing
London-area homes with artwork, furniture and other luxury items acquired in
Texas.
The
minister allegedly steered lucrative oil contracts to companies owned by Aluko
and Omokore, which sold US$1.5 billion worth of Nigerian crude.
They
then used shell corporations and intermediaries to launder the funds through US
banks and buy the assets which the Justice Department is now seeking to seize.
Under former President Barack Obama, the Justice Department in 2010 launched a "kleptocracy" initiative to recover the ill-gotten gains of corrupt foreign officials. The initiative has had mixed results but in 2014 collected a US$500 million once held by the former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and his cronies.
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