UK Court seizes 27,000 pounds from former petroleum minister, Alison- Madueke

UK Court seizes 27,000 pounds from former petroleum minister, Alison- Madueke
The Westminster Magistrate’s Court on
Marylebone Road, London, on Monday
granted an application for seizure of 27,000
pounds seized from a former Minister of
Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-
Madueke.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke was arrested and later
released on bail on Friday for alleged
corruption-related offences.
The cash was seized under Section 295 of
Proceeds of Crime Act 2012.
By granting the application, which was filed
by the UK’s National Crime Agency, the
money would be held in the custody of the
court until April 5, 2016.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that although the
former minister did not appear today in
court, her mother, Beatrice Agama, and
another woman, Melanie Spencer, appeared
in today’s sitting.
Reports also said a separate application was
also made against Ms. Agama for the seizure
of an undisclosed amount of money.
PREMIUM TIMES learned that there were
indications the money seized by the court
was found recently with Mrs. Alison-
Madueke as the National Crime Agency
applied for the seizure within 48 hours.
PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported
the arrest of Mrs. Alison-Madueke alongside
four others in London on Friday, for
offences related to bribery, corruption and
money laundering.
An overview of the Proceeds of Crime Act
says “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,” said
a factsheet.