WESTMINSTER – The Westminster Magistrate’s Court on Marylebone Road, London, Monday, granted an application for seizure of 27,000 pounds allegedly seized from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was said to have been arrested and later released on bail on Friday for alleged corruption-related offences.
By granting the application, which was filed by the UK’s National Crime Agency, the cash which was seized under Section 295 of Proceeds of Crime Act 2012, would be held in the custody of the court until April 5, 2016.
It was also gathered that although the former minister did not appear in court yesterday, her mother, Beatrice Agama, and another woman, Melanie Spencer, were at the sitting.
Reports further revealed that, a separate application has also been filed against Ms. Agama for seizure of an undisclosed amount of money.
The money seized by the court was allegedly found with Mrs. Alison-Madueke as the National Crime Agency applied for the seizure within 48 hours.
Embattled Mrs. Alison-Madueke alongside four others in London were on Friday arrested for offences related to bribery, corruption and money laundering.
An overview of the Proceeds of Crime Act states, “The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) sets out the legislative scheme for the recovery of criminal assets with criminal confiscation being the most commonly used power.
Confiscation occurs after a conviction has taken place. Other means of recovering the proceeds of crime which do not require a conviction are provided for in the Act, namely civil recovery, cash seizure and taxation powers.
The aim of the asset recovery schemes in POCA is to deny criminals the use of their assets, recover the proceeds of crime and disrupt and deter criminality.
Since 2010, more than £746 million of criminal assets has been seized (to 2013/14) across all four methods of recovery – a record amount.
Over the same period, assets worth more than £2.5 billion have been frozen denying criminals access to these resources and £93 million has been returned to victims, further learnt.
ENDS.
