According to a report by UK newspaper, MetroUK,  money to the tune of £211,000,000 has been seized from a Jersey bank account belonging to the late Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha. This is coming a year after Switzerland refunded $322.5 million of his loot.

The money was laundered through the US into the Channel Islands using accounts held in Jersey by Doraville Properties Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company.

The money is now being held by the government until authorities in Jersey, the US and Nigeria come to an agreement on how it should be distributed.

In 2014, at the request of US authorities, the Island’s Attorney General, Robert MacRae, applied for and was granted a restraining order by the Royal Court over the Jersey bank account balance of Doraville.

Mr MacRae said that in restraining the funds, “Jersey has once again demonstrated its commitment to tackling international financial crime and money laundering.”

After a legal challenge by Doraville, the Privy Council, Jersey’s ultimate appellate court, in February 2018, quashed the company’s appeal to be granted access to the money.