Jersey to return $8.9m stolen from arms purchase fund under Jonathan

Jersey, an island country located near the coast of north-west France, is set to return $8.9 million to Nigeria.

The funds were stolen during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a statement issued by a court on Monday, Mark Temple, Jersey’s attorney-general, said the forfeiture notice was served in November 2023.

He added that the “tainted property” deposited into the island’s bank accounts were made by Nigerian companies in 2014.

“On 12 January 2024 the Royal Court granted the Attorney General’s application to forfeit that property,” the statement reads.

The statement added that the funds were most likely stolen by high-ranking officials within certain departments of the federal government in 2014, and transferred as part of a corrupt scheme which used third party contractors to siphon government funds.

“Illicit payments were disguised as transactions relating to government sanctioned contracts for the purchase of arms and aviation equipment during incursions by Boko Haram in Nigeria between 2009 and 2015,” the court said.

“It is probable that most of the funds meant for legitimate arms procurement were diverted through foreign bank accounts to and from shell companies to family members of the former ruling party and shared amongst its members during the 2015 general elections in Nigeria.

“And that the tainted property in this case was to be used for the purposes of such an illicit transaction.”

According to Temple, the return of the assets will now be negotiated with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.