When Nigeria’s then-head of state Sani Abacha stole billions of dollars and died before spending his loot, it led to an international treasure hunt spread over decades. The man hired to get the money back tells the BBC’s Clare Spencer how the search took his life.
In September 1999, Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini answered a call that would change over the next 20 years.
“He called me in the middle of the night, he asked me if I could come to his hotel, he had something important. I said, ‘It’s a little late, but OK.’
The voice at the end of the line was the voice of a high-ranking member of the Nigerian government.
“Can you get the money?”
Monfrini says the official was sent to Geneva by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo at the time to recruit him to get hold of the money stolen by Abacha, who ruled from 1993 until his death in 1998.
As a lawyer, Mr. Monfrini has built up a Nigerian customer base since the 1980s, working in coffee, cocoa and other products.
He suspects the customers recommended him.
“He asked me, ‘Can you find the money and can you block the money? Can you arrange for the money to be returned to Nigeria?’
“I said yes.” “But in reality, I did not know much about the job at the time. And I had to learn very quickly, and I did.”
To get started, the Nigerian police gave him the details of some closed Swiss bank accounts, which apparently contain some of the money that Abacha and his associates stole, writes Mr. Monfrini in the book Recovering Stolen Assets.
He said a preliminary investigation published by police in November 1998 found that Abacha and his associates had stolen more than $ 1.5 billion (£ 1.1 billion).
‘Dollars per truckload’
One of the methods used to collect such a colossal amount was particularly stupid.
Abacha would ask an adviser to make a request to him for money for a vague security issue.
He then signed off on the request that the adviser would take to the central bank, which would hand out the money, often in cash.
The adviser would then take most of the money to Abacha’s home.
Some were even included in dollar bills “by the truckload”, said Mr. Monfrini wrote.
This was just one way in which Abacha and his associates stole large sums of money. Other methods ranged from awarding government contracts to friends at very high prices and then pocketing the difference and demanding that foreign companies pay large repayments to work in the country.
It took about three years until everything changed when Abacha died suddenly on June 8, 1998, aged 54 years.
It is unclear if he had a heart attack or was poisoned because there was no post-mortem examination, his personal doctor told the BBC.
Abacha died before spending the stolen billions, and some banking details were a clue as to where the money was packed away.
“The documents showing the history of the accounts gave me some links to other accounts,” he said. Monfrini said.
Armed with this information, he brought the matter to the Swiss Attorney General.
And then there was a breakthrough.
Mr. Monfrini successfully argued that the Abacha family and their associates form a criminal organization.
This was important because it opened up more options for how the authorities could handle their bank accounts.
Who was Sani Abacha?
-
Fighting in the Nigerian Army during the Civil War
-
Major player in two coups before becoming Minister of Defense in August 1993
-
Becomes head of state during a military coup in November 1993
-
His government is accused of widespread human rights violations
-
Nigeria expelled from the Commonwealth after the execution of nine human rights activists in 1995
-
Died unexpectedly on June 8, 1998 at the age of 54
-
Father of 10 children
Read more
The Attorney General issued a general warning to all the banks in Switzerland and demanded that they disclose the existence of any accounts opened under the Abachas’ names and aliases.
“In 48 hours, 95% of the banks and other financial institutions declared what they had, which apparently belonged to the family.”
It will discover a web of bank accounts around the world.
“Banks would deliver documents to the prosecutor in Geneva and I would do the job of the prosecutor because he did not have time to do so,” he said. Monfrini told the BBC.
‘Bank accounts talk a lot’
“On each account we will find out exactly where the money comes from and / or where the money goes.
“The information on these bank accounts gave me further information on other payments received from other countries and sent to other countries.
“So it was like a snowball. It started with a few bills, and then a large amount of bills, which in turn created a snowball effect that indicates a major international operation.
‘Bank accounts and the accompanying documents speak volumes.
“We have had so much evidence that different money is being sent here and there, Bahamas, Nassau, Cayman Islands – you name it.”
The size of the Abacha network has made a huge effort for Mr. Monfrini means.
“No one seems to understand how much work it involves. I have to pay so many people, so many accountants, so many other lawyers in different countries.”
Mr. Monfrini has agreed a 4% commission on the money returned to Nigeria. A rate he insisted on was comparatively ‘very cheap’.
To establish that the money was relatively fast compared to the return to Nigeria.
‘The Abachas fought like dogs. They appealed to everything we did. It delayed the process for a very long time. ‘
Further delays occurred when Swiss politicians argued that the money would only be stolen again if it was returned.
Some money was returned from Switzerland after five years.
Mr. Monfrini wrote in 2008 that $ 508 million found in the Abacha family’s many Swiss bank accounts was sent from Switzerland to Nigeria between 2005 and 2007.
By 2018, the amount that Switzerland had returned to Nigeria had reached more than $ 1 billion.
Other countries were slower to return the cash.
“Liechtenstein, for example, was a disaster. It was a nightmare.”
In June 2014, Liechtenstein finally sent $ 277 million to Nigeria.
Six years later, in May 2020, $ 308 million held in accounts held on Channel Island or Jersey was also returned to Nigeria. This comes only after the Nigerian authorities agreed that the money will be used specifically to finance the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan highway and the Abuja-Kano road.
Some countries have yet to return the loot.
Mr. Monfrini still expects to return $ 30 million in the UK, along with $ 144 million in France and a further $ 18 million in Jersey.
It should be, “but you never know,” he says.
In total, he says his work has ensured the restitution of just over $ 2.4 billion.
“In the beginning, people said that Abacha stole at least $ 4 to $ 5 billion. I do not believe that was the case. I believe that we more or less took the most, took a very large part of what they had. “
He heard rumors that the Abacha family is no longer so rich.
Or, as he puts it: “They do not swim in money as before.”
Looking back, he seems satisfied with his work.
‘When I talk to my many children about this matter, I tell them that I have found money and that I have blocked the money, I have persuaded the authorities to go after these people and get the money back to the country. for the benefit of the Nigerian people.
“We did the work.”