The Swiss government has repatriated all stolen money traced to the account of the late Head of State, General Sanni Abacha in Switzerland, a Swiss diplomat, Mr. Fabio Baiardi, has said.
Baiardi, Deputy Head of Mission of the Swiss Embassy in Nigeria, told Sunday Independent that it would be unfair to castigate the Swiss government for not cooperating with the government of Nigeria to repatriate the stolen loot.
He said that though the actual amount looted was not known, the $500 million so far traced to Abacha�s account has already been repatriated and injected into the 2004 budget by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The diplomat singled out his government as the only one that had so far repatriated stolen funds to the country of origin.
Of the $500 million, he said, controversy was still trailing $5 million being the one per cent of the total money, which a third party, who might have not been involved in the looting, is laying claim to.
Despite the controversy, Baiardi stated that the money has been returned to Nigeria but with a caveat that until the real owner was identified, it should be blocked.
So far, he said an unnamed person was laying claim to the $5 million and that that person might claim it at last as he had bright chances.
“I don�t know the person, I have no idea who he is. What I�m concerned about is people�s insinuation that Switzerland is not cooperating in repatriating the money. For the benefit of all, Switzerland is the first and only country repatriating stolen money to the country of origin”, he stressed.
Baiardi revealed that his home government had a fixed law on money laundering which had been in force since 2000, and that the law was targeted at exposing corrupt government officials.
To this end, he added, nobody in government could open an account without justifying his means of income and beneficiaries of the account.
The diplomat maintained that the Swiss government has put in place high diligence at various levels of the banking and insurance sectors, adding that it was now practically impossible for anybody to go to the country and open a bank account without stating the origin or source of his fund.
He also revealed that the home government had evolved a means in which non-governmental organisations were supported to monitor the expenditure of repatriated loot, and that so far $300,000 has been expended on monitoring the repatriation of the Abacha loot.
The Deputy Head of Mission said that his country decided to speak on the Abacha loot because of the deliberate falsehood trailing the repatriation.
He denied insinuations that Switzerland is a safe haven for stolen wealth, stressing that the government was actively fighting money laundering.