The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has sent operatives to inspect two mansions in Dubai linked to a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The properties, located at E146 Emirates Hill and J5 Emirates Hill, are said to be worth 74,000,000 dirhams (N7.1bn).
The EFCC, with the aid of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty the FG signed with the UAE, is already applying for the forfeiture of the properties through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
If a forfeiture is granted by the court, it would bring to $200m (N74bn) the total amount of cash and assets recovered from Diezani.
“We have informed the UAE authorities that from our investigation, we believe Diezani bought the properties with the proceeds of crime. The whole process is still ongoing but with the MLAT, signed by President Buhari, it has made work a lot easier for us,” an EFCC operative told The Punch.
The detective explained that before the federal government signed the treaty, UAE law prevented foreign officials from having access to properties in the country without the express permission of its owner.
He added that with the new treaty, the UAE authorities were more cooperative and readily provided information on properties from their Land Registry System.
