BREAKING: U.S., Atiku Bagudu’s Family Seek More Time From Court To Reach Agreement On Tinubu Minister’s Money Laundering Case, Public Funds Stolen During Abacha Regime

The United States government and the brother of Nigeria’s Minister of Budget and Economic Planning of the Federation, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu have filed a joint status report advising the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of the status of their negotiations.

In the joint status report, filed by and through their lawyers, the U.S. (plaintiff) and Ibrahim Bagudu (claimant) requested additional time to complete their settlement or to determine that no settlement is possible.

Accordingly, the parties requested to “extend the stay to July 5, 2024”.

They asked the court to extend the stay currently in effect in the proceeding to July 5, 2024.

The U.S. and Ibrahim Bagudu had moved to resolve a court case involving over $140 million said to be stolen from the Nigerian treasury.

The U.S. Justice Department had been trying to seize four investment portfolios held in trust for Abubakar Bagudu, a former governor of Kebbi State, and his family since 2013. In August 2023, President Bola Tinubu appointed Bagudu as minister despite the money laundering allegations against him.

The U.S. has accused the minister of being part of a network controlled by former military dictator Sani Abacha that misappropriated public funds to the tune of billions of dollars in the 1990s, siphoning the money out of the country via a network of offshore companies.

Similarly, Bloomberg had reported that the U.S. and Ibrahim on August 3, 2022, applied to suspend the case ongoing in a federal court in Washington, DC after they “agreed upon the principal terms of a settlement” on July 19 and “believe a brief stay will allow the parties to reach a final agreement resolving the litigation,” their joint motion said. The judge, who accepted the request, ordered the parties to provide an update on their negotiations by November 2. However, the motion didn’t provide any details about the contents of the potential settlement.

In January 2024, the U.S. conveyed its willingness to resolve the lawsuit filed against returning Abacha loot, signalling the potential transfer of yet another $30 million to Tinubu’s controversial minister.

Filings seen by Peoples Gazette showed American authorities and Atiku Bagudu, represented by Ibrahim Bagudu, had stipulated in a January 5, 2024, joint status report to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. that an agreement had been reached by the parties over funds trapped in a bank account linked to the Bagudus.

The Deutsche Bank-domiciled assets of Doraville Properties, run by the Bagudus in the British island of Jersey, have been identified as stolen from the Nigerian treasury during the military junta of the 90s.

This involved all assets held in account number 80020796 in the name of Doraville Properties Corporation at Deutsche Bank International Limited in Jersey, Channel Islands and all interest, benefits or assets traceable thereto, et al.

However, a fresh court filing obtained by SaharaReporters dated April 26, 2024, was submitted for the plaintiff (U.S.) by S. Chartey Quarcoo, Joshua L. Sohn, Alison A. Yewdell of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice.

On behalf of Ibrahim Bagudu, it was done by his lawyers – Jonathan R. Barr, Jonathan B. New and Patrick T. Campbel of Baker & Hostetler LLP.

It reads, “Pursuant to the Court’s March 4, 2024, minute order, Plaintiff, the United States of America, and Claimant, Ibrahim Bagudu, by and through their counsel, respectfully file the below joint status report advising the Court of the status of the parties’ settlement negotiations.

“The parties also request that, to provide the parties the additional time they need to complete their settlement or to determine that no settlement is possible, the Court extend the stay currently in effect in this proceeding to July 5, 2024.

“Fact discovery in this matter is complete. While conducting expert depositions, on July 19, 2022, the parties reached an agreement on principal terms to resolve the litigation.

“Upon reaching this agreement, the parties agreed to adjourn the remaining expert depositions and, on August 3, 2022, sought a stay of the proceedings until November 9, 2022.

“The parties sought the stay to provide them with an opportunity to finalize their settlement, while not having to spend significant time and resources to complete expert discovery and submit summary judgment motions.

“On August 3, 2022, the Court granted the parties’ motion for a stay, stayed the proceedings until November 9, and required the parties to file a joint status report on the status of the settlement negotiations on November 2.

“It has since granted eight further extensions of the stay. The current stay expires on May 3, 2024. As before, the joint status report, due today, must indicate whether a further extension is warranted under the circumstances.

“As of the last status report, Plaintiff had circulated proposed settlement documents to the parties, and the parties had in turn reviewed and exchanged additional comments and edits to those papers. Over the past two months, the parties have conferred and further advanced documents applicable to the U.S. case.”

It noted that the “proposed settlement, as detailed in prior filings, would also involve the resolution of two related actions in the United Kingdom (UK)”.

“Given the multifaceted nature of the resolution, further time is required for the parties to receive and review documents specific to the UK proceedings from their foreign counterparts, and for the parties to finalize, and receive authority to execute, all of the settlement documents,” it said.

“In light of the foregoing, the parties believe that at this time, their efforts will be best spent working towards a final settlement agreement or determining that settlement will not be possible, rather than spending significant time and resources now to complete expert discovery and submit summary judgment motions,” it said.

“If the parties determine that they are unable to finalize the settlement and the litigation should resume, the joint status report would also include a proposed schedule for the remaining proceedings in this case,” they added.

The agreement will require the parties to file a joint status report on June 28, 2024 that “will advise the Court on whether (i) the requested stay should be extended beyond July 5, 2024, because substantial progress has been made towards finalizing the settlement, or (ii) the requested stay should expire on July 5, 2024, and the litigation should resume because the parties are unable to finalize the settlement”.