Mohammed Abacha is the eldest surviving son of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

's former ''military ruler'', the late general

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

, and his wife

Maryam Abacha Maryam Abacha (born 4 March 1949) is the widow of Sani Abacha, Nigeria's military ruler from 1993 to 1998. After the death of her husband, Maryam was caught while attempting to leave Nigeria with 38 suitcases filled with cash. In 1999, Maryam A ...

Money laundering

During his father's military rule, Mohammed Abacha was involved in looting the government. A preliminary report published by the

Abdulsalam Abubakar Abdulsalami Abubakar (; born 13 June 1942) is a Nigerian statesman and retired Nigerian Army general who served as the List of heads of state of Nigeria, ''de facto'' President of Nigeria from 1998 to 1999. He was also Chief of the Defence Sta ...

transitional government in November 1998 described the process. Sani Abacha told his National Security Adviser

Ismaila Gwarzo Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo is a retired Nigerian high ranking security and intelligence official. He was a police officer, and the first Director of the State Security Service; Minister of Police Affairs and was also the National Security Adviser to ...

to provide fake funding requests, which Abacha approved. The funds were usually sent in cash or travellers' cheques by the

Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are ...

to Gwarzo Kuncnoni, who took them to Abacha's house. Mohammed Abacha then arranged to launder the money to offshore accounts. An estimated $1.4 billion in cash was delivered in this way.

Legacy

Like his father and mother, Mohammed Abacha has been referenced in

419 scams An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the frauds ...

.The Perfect Mark
" ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

References

External links

Abacha loot trial: Swiss bid to take evidence aborted
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abacha, Mohammed Nigerian fraudsters Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century births Children of national leaders

Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

Money launderers