On November 3rd, 2023, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and last week at the 10th Conference of the State Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), France announced the upcoming return to Nigeria of US$150 million looted by former head of State Sani Abacha.
This return process falls within proceedings initiated in the United States where, in 2014, a court entered judgment forfeiting approximately US$500 million located in accounts around the world – including in France, Jersey, the U.K.- as the result of a civil forfeiture complaint the Department of Justice filed against more than $625 million traceable to money laundering involving the proceeds of Abacha’s corruption.
