Recently the Times informed that Nigerian Government is seeking to seize control of bank accounts and properties of Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, which was the elected governor of one of the richest oil states of Nigeria. During his being in this post, Alamieyeseigha promised to eliminate the corruption in the country, however his political career ended by the arrest in London on money-laundering charges.
Later on, the information appeared on the enormous scales of his alleged corruption, and the details of how he used London’s banks and property market, to get his assets out of West Africa.
Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was elected in May 1999; in that period his disclosed assets were about £286,000, and his income was £6,000. Four months later, he opened an account at UBS Warburg in London and deposited $35,000 there. He credited these accounts with $1 million and $500,000 in April and May 2001. These amounts were used for purchasing financial bonds. Also, in 2002 Chief Alamieyeseigha acquired a Seychelles-incorporated Santolina Investment Corporation, and opened several bank accounts on its name. One of them, opened with the Royal Bank of Scotland, received 26 deposits between January 2004 and March 2005, with the total amount of £2.7 million.
Chief Alamieyeseigha also registered a company in the British Virgin islands, named Solomon & Peters. This BVI company was used by the governor to form his portfolio of British properties, in such a way:
In late 1999 BVI-based S & P paid £241,000 for the lease of a flat in Kilburn. In July 2001 the company bought a large property in the Brondes-bury conservation area, also in northwest London, for £1.4 million.
Next year, BVI company paid £1.4 million for two properties in Finchley. Part of this amount was funded by a £693,500 mortgage. In August 2003, it paid £1.75 million for a flat close to Marble Arch.
Chief Alamieyeseigha was arrested in 2005 at Heathrow, after Nigerian authorities asked Scotland Yard to intervene in the case. However, before standing trial at Southwark Crown Court, Chief Alamieyeseigha escaped to Nigeria using a fake passport.
The High Court in London stated the matter should go to trial. Now the chief is on trial in Nigeria for corruption. The court has been told that he obtained 18 property units in different countries, six companies, more than $6 million in bank accounts in four countries, and even a share in an oil refinery in Ecuador.
The former governor denies most of the charges and is unrepetant about the money in the frozen British bank accounts; by his words, these were unused campaign funds from elections in 2003.