US PUBLIC AFFAIRS — The Justice Department announced that the United States entered into an agreement to transfer approximately $52.88 million in forfeited assets to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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This move recognizes Nigeria’s assistance to the department in investigating corruption in the Nigerian oil industry.
The International Unit of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) is a dedicated team that seeks to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, repatriate those assets to the countries harmed by corruption for the benefit of their people.
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“This agreement recognizes the close law enforcement relationship between the United States and Nigeria and Nigeria’s vital assistance that contributed to the successful forfeiture of millions of dollars of corruption proceeds,”
— Brent S Wible, Head of Justice Department's Criminal Division
According to court documents, from 2011 to 2015, Nigerian businessmen Kolawole Akanni Aluko and Olajide Omokore conspired with others to pay bribes to Nigeria’s former Minister for Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
In return, Alison-Madueke used her influence to steer lucrative oil contracts to companies owned by Aluko and Omokore.
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Under the agreement, $50 million of the recovered funds will be dedicated to expanding the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-Up project, an existing electrification project funded, in part, by the International Development Association and implemented by the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency.
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