BBC
Thursday 18th, 2002


Switzerland is to give Nigeria back hundreds of millions of dollars of
embezzled state funds stashed away in the country's banks by former military
ruler General Sani Abacha.
Swiss banks will be ordered to return $535m under an out-of-court settlement
between the Nigerian authorities and General Abacha's family and business
associates, the Swiss Federal Justice Department said.
Under the deal, a total of around $1bn will be transferred to Nigeria from
banks around the world, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
In return, the country's authorities have said they will drop criminal
proceedings against members of the former leader's family.
Disputed funds
General Abacha, who died of an apparent heart attack in 1998, was accused of
stealing some $3bn from state funds in the oil-rich country.
Under the settlement, his family will be allowed to keep $100m of the
disputed cash.
These funds were acquired before General Abacha began his five-year rule in
1998 and "demonstrably do not derive from criminal acts", the statement
said.
Accounts frozen
Nigeria asked Switzerland in 1999 to help uncover the financial network it
suspected that Mr Abacha had established.
In response, the Swiss authorities froze around $670m in bank accounts
belonging to Abacha, his son Mohammed, widow Mariam and other relatives.
Suspicious money was also discovered in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and
Jersey, and Britain has found traces of around $1.3bn thought to have been
handled by domestic banks for General Abacha's family and friends.
The Swiss ministry said that the funds to be repaid - currently frozen in
various bank accounts abroad - would be transferred to the Bank for
International Settlements in Basel


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