Nigeria to seize $40 mln of jewellery, gold iPhone from ex-minister


Reuters | Abuja | Updated: 05-07-2019 22:03 IST | Created: 05-07-2019 22:02 IST
Nigeria to seize $40 mln of jewellery, gold iPhone from ex-minister
Image Credit: ANI
  • Country:
  • Nigeria

A Nigerian court has ordered the imminent seizure of $40 million worth of jewelry and a customized gold iPhone belonging to former oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, the country's anti-graft agency said on Friday. The items, including hundreds of bangles, rings, earrings, necklaces, and watches, were found at a property owned by Alison-Madueke, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement.

Alison-Madueke, who ran the petroleum ministry from 2011 to 2015, was charged by the EFCC in absentia with money laundering in 2017. Her whereabouts are unknown, and a London-based lawyer who has represented her did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The order gives the EFCC 14 days to print the charges in any national newspaper and allow for her or "anyone interested in the items" to show why they should not be permanently forfeited to the federal government.

In 2017, a court allowed the government to permanently seize a $37.5 million apartment block she owned in an upscale Lagos neighborhood. (Reporting By Felix Onuah; Writing by Libby George; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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