U.S. returns $20M in assets stolen by former Nigerian dictator

Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The United States has returned more than $20.6 million in assets stolen by former Nigerian dictator Gen. Sani Abacha, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Abacha led the African nation as a kleptocracy from 1993 until his death from a mysterious heart attack believed to have been caused by poison in 1998.

A U.S. federal court in 2014 ordered the forfeiture of $500 million in accounts around the world that could be traced to money laundering efforts to hide the billions that had been embezzled, misappropriated and extorted from Nigeria by Abacha, his son Mohammed Sani Abacha and others.

The return of the money to Nigeria comes after the United States signed an agreement with the country in August to transfer all forfeited assets.

The United States has now transferred around $332.4 million of the forfeited funds after repatriating $311.7 million that had been found in Bailiwick of Jersey in 2020.

"The forfeited assets represent corrupt monies laundered during and after the military regime of General Abacha, who became head of state of Nigeria through a military coup," the Justice Department said in a press release Thursday.

"The funds governed by this agreement will help finance the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the Abuja-Kano road -- investments that will benefit the citizens of each of these important regions in Nigeria."