UK court that restrain former Petroleum Resources Minister,
Diezani Alison-Madueke, and her business fronts, Jide Omokore and
Kolawole Aluko, from disposing of properties acquired through the
dodgy Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) facilitated by the
erstwhile minister.
The assets in question were acquired via companies listed as
third parties in the matter being handled in the UK under the
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Also subject to the order are Messrs.
Benedict Peters, Christopher Illuobe, a California-based attorney,
Donald Amagbo, and three companies, Collingwood Limited, Rosewood
Investments Limited and Miranda Investment Limited.
papers, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters not
TheNigerialawyer, show that Judge Taylor of the Southwark Crown
Court issued the restraint following an application by the Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS is prosecuting the defendants
and third parties for alleged acts of corruption. The order, issued
on September 13, 2016, bars the defendants and third parties from
disposing or dealing in the affected assets or diminishing their
value.
The affected properties, according to the court papers, include
5 Parkview, 83-86 Prince Albert Road, St. John’s Wood, London NW8
7RU.
The property is registered at the Land Registry under title
number NGL745834 in the name of Collingwood Limited. Also on the
restraint list is Flat 58 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London
NW15HL, which is registered at the land registry under number
NGL729440 and held in the name of Rosewood Investments Limited.
Equally affected is 96 Camp Road, Gerrard Cross,
Buckinghamshire, SL9BP. It is registered at the registry under
title number BM180105 and held in the name of Miranda Limited. The
last listed asset is a land identified as lying to the south of
Lyttelton Road, Finchley.
Judge Taylor warned the defendants that it would amount to
contempt of his court if any of the notified persons acted in
breach of the court order. Such breach, the judge warned, could
earn the offending party a term of imprisonment, fine and even
prosecution for money laundering.
The restraint order, however, neither prevents banks from
exercising rights of set off they may have in respect of any
facility given to the defendants before the order was issued nor
prevent a financial institution from taking steps to enforce an
existing charge in respect of a property.
Court papers reveal that the restraint order will remain in
force until it is varied or vacated by another order of the
court.
Prosecutors in the United States recently provided details of
how Mrs.
Alison-Madueke and her fronts splashed millions of dollars on
homes and luxury items in the US and UK. A civil forfeiture notice
filed by the US Department of Justice seeks to have assets valued
at $144 million seized from Ms. Alison-Madueke, Mr. Omokore, and
Mr. Aluko. The forfeiture notice showed how Mr. Omokore and Mr.
Aluko, who improperly received more than $1.5 billion in revenues
via a questionable agreement that empowered them to sell Nigeria’s
crude oil and pocket the proceeds, used shell companies to conceal
the ownership of properties and luxury items purchased.
Nigerian authorities have also obtained court orders authorizing
the government to seize billions of naira in assets, including real
estate, illicitly acquired by Ms. Alison-Madueke.
SaharaReporters
UK court that restrain former Petroleum Resources Minister,
Diezani Alison-Madueke, and her business fronts, Jide Omokore and
Kolawole Aluko, from disposing of properties acquired through the
dodgy Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) facilitated by the
erstwhile minister.
The assets in question were acquired via companies listed as
third parties in the matter being handled in the UK under the
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Also subject to the order are Messrs.
Benedict Peters, Christopher Illuobe, a California-based attorney,
Donald Amagbo, and three companies, Collingwood Limited, Rosewood
Investments Limited and Miranda Investment Limited.
papers, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters not
TheNigerialawyer, show that Judge Taylor of the Southwark Crown
Court issued the restraint following an application by the Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS is prosecuting the defendants
and third parties for alleged acts of corruption. The order, issued
on September 13, 2016, bars the defendants and third parties from
disposing or dealing in the affected assets or diminishing their
value.
The affected properties, according to the court papers, include
5 Parkview, 83-86 Prince Albert Road, St. John’s Wood, London NW8
7RU.
The property is registered at the Land Registry under title
number NGL745834 in the name of Collingwood Limited. Also on the
restraint list is Flat 58 Harley House, Marylebone Road, London
NW15HL, which is registered at the land registry under number
NGL729440 and held in the name of Rosewood Investments Limited.
Equally affected is 96 Camp Road, Gerrard Cross,
Buckinghamshire, SL9BP. It is registered at the registry under
title number BM180105 and held in the name of Miranda Limited. The
last listed asset is a land identified as lying to the south of
Lyttelton Road, Finchley.
Judge Taylor warned the defendants that it would amount to
contempt of his court if any of the notified persons acted in
breach of the court order. Such breach, the judge warned, could
earn the offending party a term of imprisonment, fine and even
prosecution for money laundering.
The restraint order, however, neither prevents banks from
exercising rights of set off they may have in respect of any
facility given to the defendants before the order was issued nor
prevent a financial institution from taking steps to enforce an
existing charge in respect of a property.
Court papers reveal that the restraint order will remain in
force until it is varied or vacated by another order of the
court.
Prosecutors in the United States recently provided details of
how Mrs.
Alison-Madueke and her fronts splashed millions of dollars on
homes and luxury items in the US and UK. A civil forfeiture notice
filed by the US Department of Justice seeks to have assets valued
at $144 million seized from Ms. Alison-Madueke, Mr. Omokore, and
Mr. Aluko. The forfeiture notice showed how Mr. Omokore and Mr.
Aluko, who improperly received more than $1.5 billion in revenues
via a questionable agreement that empowered them to sell Nigeria’s
crude oil and pocket the proceeds, used shell companies to conceal
the ownership of properties and luxury items purchased.
Nigerian authorities have also obtained court orders authorizing
the government to seize billions of naira in assets, including real
estate, illicitly acquired by Ms. Alison-Madueke.
SaharaReporters