(Bloomberg) -- Nigeria agreed a deal with some foreign countries for the return of $500 million in public funds stolen by officials, Justice Minister and Attorney General Abubakar Malami said.
Countries including the U.S., the U.K. and France are helping to repatriate the funds, Malami told reporters on Wednesday in the capital, Abuja. “We are almost concluding the processes,” he said.
Under terms agreed with the U.S., specific projects have been identified to which the funds will be committed when returned to the West African country, according to the minister.
A former Nigerian military ruler General Sani Abacha, who died in 1998, is alleged by the authorities to have siphoned more than $3 billion to foreign bank accounts, which are still being traced and returned to Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this year with Switzerland and a World Bank fund that will pave the way for the return of $321 million of stolen funds traced to Abacha.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elisha Bala-Gbogbo in Abuja at ebalagbogbo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dulue Mbachu at dmbachu@bloomberg.net, Liezel Hill
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