US GOVERNMENT SEIZE HOME BELONGING TO ALAMIEYESEIGHA IN MARYLAND

The US government has seized a Rockville home belonging to former
Bayelsa governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the U.S. Department of
Justice said in a news release last week Friday May 31.
Feds said they seized the home because the former governor bought the
house using stolen state money. Alamieyeseigha was ordered to
relinquish the $700,000 home on May 24, following an investigation
byU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Fedederal prosecutors claim Alamieyeseigha bought the Rockville
property during his first term as governor "with funds obtained
through corruption, abuse of office, money laundering and other
violations of Nigerian and U.S. law."
According to ICE, the title to the property was transferred to a shell
corporation controlled by Alamieyeseigha.
Citing federal prosecutors, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday
that Alamieyeseigha bought $8 million in properties around the globe
with bribes he received while he was governor.
Alamieyeseigha, WSJ reported, denied the charges and offered a very
different account than the Justice Department of how the house came
into his possession. The article cites a 2011 affidavit in which
Alamieyeseigha stated:
"I am not unaware of the monkey politics that is played in third world
countries like Nigeria with the active connivance of over zealous
individuals, agencies and government parastals (sic) touting
themselves as global ethics compliance monitors. The civil forfeiture
action which was brought against the defendant property in a quest to
score cheap points as the global watchdog should be dismissed."
Read The Wall Street Journal's story here.
In a news release, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman
said the seizure was made possible through DOJ's Kleptocracy
Initiative.
"Foreign officials who think they can use the United States as a
stash-house are sorely mistaken," Raman said in the news release.
Alamieyeseigha pleaded guilty to money laundering and other chargesin
2007 - two years after he was impeached - and was sentenced to two
years in prison, The Gazette reported. He was pardoned by Nigeria's
president in March.