The Rockville, Maryland home of former Bayelsa state governor,
Diepreye Alamaieyeseigha has been forfeited to the US government
following the approval by a federal judge of the Justice Department’s
forfeiture order.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the forfeiture on the $700,000
Rockville, Maryland house was executed Friday after U.S District Judge
Roger W. Titus granted the Justice Department’s motion for default
judgment against the property. The Justice Department said the house
belonged to Diepreye Peter Solomon Alamieyeseigha, who was Bayelsa
governor between 1999 and 2005.
According to prosecutors, Alamieyeseigha’s assets were the proceeds
of corruption. Alamieyeseigha has previously denied the allegations in
court filings. A lawyer for Alamieyeseigha could not be immediately
reached for comment.
The forfeiture is part of a fledgling Justice Department initiative dedicated to seeking out assets in the U.S. linked to high-level foreign corruption. Last year, a federal district judge in Massachusetts granted a motion for default judgment and civil forfeiture on a $401,931 Massachusetts brokerage fund that allegedly belonged to Alamieyeseigha.
The forfeiture is part of a fledgling Justice Department initiative dedicated to seeking out assets in the U.S. linked to high-level foreign corruption. Last year, a federal district judge in Massachusetts granted a motion for default judgment and civil forfeiture on a $401,931 Massachusetts brokerage fund that allegedly belonged to Alamieyeseigha.
“Foreign officials who think they can use the United States as a
stash-house are sorely mistaken,” Acting Assistant Attorney General
Mythili Raman said in a news release. “Through the Kleptocracy
Initiative, we stand with the victims of foreign official corruption as
we seek to forfeit the proceeds of corrupt leaders’ illegal activities.”
A Nigerian court sentenced Alamieyeseigha to two years in prison in
2007 for failing to declare assets in Nigeria, South Africa and the U.S.
Prosecutors said he bought more than $8 million in properties with
bribes he received from contractors while serving as governor.
Alamieyeseigha pleaded guilty to money laundering on behalf of two
companies he controlled—Solomon & Peters Ltd. and Alamieyeseigha and
Santolina Investment Corp.
Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Alamieyeseigha
successor in the state, granted an unconditional pardon to
Alamieyeseigha in March, sparking outrage among local media and
Jonathan’s political opponents. The pardon didn’t appear to effect the
U.S. Justice Department’s efforts.
Alamieyeseigha has been the focus of legal scrutiny in the U.K. In 2006, the High Court of Justice in London found three of Alamieyeseigha’s properties there, as well as accounts held by Santolina, represented bribe money or were traceable to bribes Alamieyeseigha took from contractors in Nigeria. After he was arrested at Heathrow Airport in 2005, police found about $1.6 million in cash in his house.
Alamieyeseigha has been the focus of legal scrutiny in the U.K. In 2006, the High Court of Justice in London found three of Alamieyeseigha’s properties there, as well as accounts held by Santolina, represented bribe money or were traceable to bribes Alamieyeseigha took from contractors in Nigeria. After he was arrested at Heathrow Airport in 2005, police found about $1.6 million in cash in his house.
The home in Rockville, a suburb of Washington, D.C., is owned by
Solomon & Peters Ltd., a shell company controlled by Alamieyeseigha,
according to court papers. The Justice Department and Alamieyeseigha
offered drastically different accounts of how the house came to be in
his possession.
In previous court filings, Alamieyeseigha had choice words for the U.S. efforts and Nigeria’s political culture.
In previous court filings, Alamieyeseigha had choice words for the U.S. efforts and Nigeria’s political culture.
“I am not unaware of the monkey politics that is played in third
world countries like Nigeria with the active connivance of over zealous
individuals, agencies and government parastals (sic) touting themselves
as global ethics compliance monitors,” he wrote in a 2011 affidavit.
“The civil forfeiture action which was brought against the defendant
property in a quest to score cheap points as the global watchdog should
be dismissed.”
The Justice Department didn’t say where the forfeited funds would be
directed. According to the news release, “where possible and appropriate
[the Justice Department will] return those corruption proceeds for the
benefit of the people of the nations harmed by the corruption.” A
Justice Department spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry
about whether or not the funds would be returned to Nigeria.
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