The United States has seized about $6.1 million belonging to Nigeria after a hired arms supplier pleaded guilty to charges that included illegal dealing in military-grade weapons and money laundering, court documents have revealed.
According to reports, Judge Erica Grosjean, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, ordered the forfeiture after Ara Dolarian, an unlicensed armed dealer hired by the Nigerian government to help circumvent U.S. ban on arms sale to Nigeria, admitted conducting arms sale without requisite approvals.
Dolarian, who initially denied any wrongdoing, was arrested on May 15, 2019, and pleaded ‘guilty’ on June 27. His sentencing hearing will open on September 24, 2021, and may be concluded on October 6, 2021, court filings said.
For pleading guilty, Dolarian would face years in prison and would also forfeit $6,024,806.45 cash trapped in various U.S. banks and entities under his name and his businesses. A brand-new BMW vehicle was also confiscated and would be sold by the U.S. government, documents further said.
According to the documents, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s National Security Adviser, (NSA), Sambo Dasuki, contracted the controversial promoter of Societe D’Equipments Internationaux, (SEI), Hima Aboubakar, to help broker a deal for high?explosive bombs, rockets, military-grade firearms and aircraft-mounted cannons to be deployed against Boko Haram insurgents.
The deal came as 2015 general elections loomed and Jonathan appeared desperate to rout out Boko Haram elements and boost his re-election efforts.
To execute the deal, Aboubakar, a citizen of Niger Republic, entered a sales agreement with Dolarian, who did not have license to export arms or broker arms deals, as the U.S. had restricted the sale of arms to countries known for flagrant human rights abuses under the Leahy amendments.
“At no point did Ara Dolarian (Dolarian), Dolarian Capital Inc. (DCI), or their affiliates receive DDTC approval to broker defense articles to Nigeria”, the U.S. Homeland Security said, in the charges.
Although Dolarian had submitted an application requesting a licence to broker military equipment transactions, it was rejected by the DDTC. However, that did not stop him from proceeding to present himself to Nigerian authorities as a qualified arms dealer.
