New York Times
April 5, 2000

Swiss Charge Dictator's Ally in Plundering of Nigeria

By ELIZABETH OLSON

GENEVA, April 4 -- Swiss authorities have brought the first charges in a case involving at least $654 million in bank accounts here that were connected to the Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, his family and associates.

A businessman was charged last week with faking documents to set up an account in a Geneva bank for the Abacha family, the city prosecutor, Bernard Bertossa, confirmed today. Under Swiss rules, names of the accused are confidential but people following the case identified the man as Dharam Vir, of New Delhi.

Nigeria's new elected government is seeking return of the money, scattered in 140 accounts in 11 banks in Geneva and Zurich, contending that Mr. Abacha looted the money from his country. Swiss officials have frozen the accounts and are carrying out a criminal inquiry.

Mr. Vir supposedly used false documentation saying the money was to pay Russia for building a steel plant in Nigeria to divert an undisclosed sum of money from Nigerian government accounts to the Swiss accounts.

The total amount in the accounts uncovered so far is even more than the most notorious previous similar case -- the $550 million hidden by the longtime Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The impoverished Philippines' 12-year effort to regain the money led Switzerland to tighten its banking rules.

Mr. Abacha is reported to have stowed the money during the five years he was Nigeria's dictator, before dying at age 54 in June 1998.

Swiss authorities say they plan more indictments and have asked Nigeria and other European countries for legal help in tracking down suspects who live outside of Switzerland, Mr. Bertossa said.

A substantial portion of the Nigerian funds were deposited in Switzerland's two biggest commercial banks, Credit Suisse and UBS. In 1995, two years after Mr. Abacha took power, Credit Suisse is said to have accepted $200 million in the name of Mr. Abacha's son.

Nigeria contends that Mr. Abacha systematically embezzled money. from the country's central bank through a system of false invoices.