Geneva judge says $551 million frozen in Abacha-related accounts

A judge in Geneva on Monday said that about $551 million has been frozen in Swiss bank accounts as part of the Swiss authorities’ search for assets related to the late Nigerian dictator Gen. Sani Abacha.

A judge in Geneva on Monday said that about $551 million has been frozen in Swiss bank accounts as part of the Swiss authorities’ search for assets related to the late Nigerian dictator Gen. Sani Abacha.

Switzerland ordered a provisional block on any accounts in the name of Abacha, his relatives and associates, in mid-October, after Nigeria asked for legal assistance. Nigeria has until January 13 to present a formal request for legal assistance, and will have to specify a link between investigations in the West African country and the blocked assets.

About 120 accounts have been frozen at banks in Geneva and Zurich, investigating judge Georges Zecchin said, confirming a report in the daily Tribune de Genève.

Zecchin said several financial institutions – the vast majority of them in Geneva — had reported their suspicions of money laundering, which were passed on to him.

Nigeria’s request for legal aid, made via a Swiss lawyer, covered Abacha’s former security adviser, Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo; a former minister, Abubakar Attiku Bagudu; four unidentified Nigerian businessmen; and “a certain number” of companies, the Swiss Federal Police Office said in October.

They are suspected by Nigeria of “systematically pillaging” the Nigerian central bank over a period of years, it said.

Abacha’s five-year rule ended suddenly in June 1998 after the former dictator died of an apparent heart attack.

His police state was notorious for its brutality, and his tiny circle of business partners, aides and friends earned hundreds of millions of dollars though extensive graft and kickback schemes.

Nigeria’s new civilian President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected in February and took office in May, ending 15 years of military rule.

The freezing of the Abacha accounts follows a number of earlier episodes involving assets deposited by former foreign rulers in Switzerland.

In 1997, the country’s high court ordered the transfer of about $590 million in assets belonging to the late Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos to the Philippines, saying it was against Swiss interests “to serve as a safe haven” for flight capital or criminal proceeds.

Also frozen in Switzerland pending legal action are assets belonging to the former Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.