Singapore News Channel, Singapore News Network

Atiku Abubakar sent $40 million into U.S. accounts from 2000 to 2008 – US Senate

A 330-page report from the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said that foreign government officials, known internationally as “politically exposed persons,” exploit weaknesses in anti-money-laundering rules to send millions of dollars into U.S. bank accounts and properties. During a hearing of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs permanent subcommittee on investigations, panel members were told that influential foreign leaders use lawyers, banks, escrow and real estate agents, lobbyists and university officials to bypass anti-corruption laws. The report also said that Jennifer Douglas, a U.S. citizen and former wife of Atiku Abubakar, an ex-Vice President of Nigeria, helped Atiku send over $40 million in suspect funds to the United States between 2000 and 2008. Offshore corporations are said to have transferred about $25 million into more than 30 U.S. bank accounts opened by Jennifer Douglas. Other examples cited at the panel hearing include: Yamilee Bongo-Astier, daughter of Omar Bongo, the late president of Gabon, had her account closed after a bank discovered that she had $1 million in $100 bills in her safe-deposit box. She said her father to brought the money into the USA without reporting it by using his diplomatic status. The US Securities and Exchange Commission had filed a civil complaint in 2008 accusing Jennifer Douglas, the former wife of Atiku Abubakar, of receiving $2 million in bribes from Siemens, a major German firm. Jennifer Douglas denied any wrongdoing but Siemens has admitted in U.S. court cases that it made the payments.

Mr Jamin RYAN—banned for three-and-a-half years

Mr Jamin Ryan, of Elemore Vale, New South Wales, was banned as a Company Director on 17 September 2009. Mr Ryan was the director of four failed companies, namely: A.C.N. 102 276 826 (formerly known as AIPT Pty Ltd); Newcastle Property Solutions Pty Ltd; Corporate Transport Services Australia Pty Ltd; and AIPT Management Pty Ltd.

Each of the failed companies had outstanding statutory liabilities including: $146,102 owed by AIPT Pty Ltd to the Office of State Revenue; $239,742 owed by Newcastle Property Solutions Pty Ltd; and $279,500 owed by AIPT Management Pty Ltd to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

It was also found that Mr Ryan resisted requests from and provided limited assistance to the liquidators in respect of each of the failed companies. In relation to Corporate Transport Services Australia Pty Ltd, Mr Ryan was previously convicted by ASIC for offences under the Corporations Act of failing to assist the liquidator and failing to provide a Report as to Affairs for the company.

AIPT Management Pty Ltd was involved in a number of property transactions with failed debenture issuer, Australian Capital Reserve, that have come under question by the liquidator of Australian Capital Reserve.

A report was submitted to ASIC by the respective company’s liquidators claiming that no dividends were expected to be paid to unsecured creditors.

Big Day For The FCPA

History will be made with today’s opening gavel in William Jefferson’s federal trial. It will mark the first time a former member of congress has been prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the only time the country has seen two FCPA trials staged simultaneously — Jefferson’s in Alexandria, Virginia and Frederic Bourke’s in New York City.

Jefferson, 62, faces up to 20 years in prison. He’s accused of violating the FCPA by arranging bribes to African officials to win contracts for his family’s companies, and with soliciting and accepting bribes, wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. He lost an election last year for a 10th term in the House of Representatives from a district that includes New Orleans.

Frederic Bourke’s trial started last week. He’s accused of investing in a deal in Azerbaijan that he knew involved paying bribes to officials there. He faces up to 30 years in jail for violating the FCPA, money laundering and lying to federal investigators.

Jefferson’s case caused a stir when it started in 2005. The FBI’s raid on his congressional office was the first one ever. The Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said the raid was constitutional but the way the FBI reviewed Jefferson’s documents wasn’t. The tainted evidence can’t be used at his trial. It was also the first time U.S. law enforcement agencies had raided the U.S. residence of an elected foreign official — a home built in Maryland by Nigeria’s then vice president, Atiku Abubakar, for his wife Jennifer Douglas.

For Jefferson and his family, these are terrible times. His brother Mose Jefferson, his sister Betty Jefferson, and his niece Angela Coleman, have all pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges in Louisiana, where they helped run the family’s political machine. On top of that, Jefferson’s other sister, Brenda Jefferson Foster, has already pleaded guilty in the Louisiana case and will testify against her relatives. A judge has told the other indicted family members not to contact her. Their trial is scheduled to start in August.