The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that the United States agreed to transfer forfeited assets worth approximately $52.88 million to the Federal Republic of Nigeria for providing U.S. prosecutors with critical assistance during an investigation into corruption in the Nigerian oil industry. The agreement with Nigeria provides that the forfeited funds should be used for the benefit the Nigerian people through critical projects in the region and counterterrorism programs. The agreement enables $50 million in funds to be managed and disbursed through a World Bank trust fund for an existing electrification project aimed at increasing Nigeria’s access to electricity services and the generation of renewable energy. Approximately $2.88 million will be contributed to the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (“IIJ”) to finance criminal justice programs, including efforts to counter the financing of terrorism in the region.
The assets were forfeited following an investigation conducted by the DOJ’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (“MLARS”) as part of its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. A critical goal of that initiative was to seek the forfeiture of the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, return those assets to the countries harmed by the corruption. In this case, the repatriated assets were obtained in connection with two forfeiture actions filed in the Southern District of Texas involving Nigerian businessmen Kolawole Akanni Aluko and Olajide Omokore. The businessmen were accused by federal prosecutors of conspiring with others from 2011 to 2015 to pay bribes to Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former Minister for Petroleum Resources. The bribes were allegedly paid in order to provide companies owned by Aluko and Omokore with a competitive advantage in securing lucrative oil contracts. According to court documents, more than $100 million in proceeds from the bribery scheme were laundered in the United States and used to purchase various assets, including real estate and a 65-meter superyacht called the Galactica Star. According to the DOJ, these forfeitures were made possible by critical assistance, including “extensive evidentiary and investigative support,” provided by the Nigerian government to federal prosecutors on the case.