19 years after Enron Corporation suffered one of the biggest corporate bankruptcies in the history of America, a former subsidiary of the company is battling Nigerian and United States authorities over the sale of a yacht valued at over $80 million. The yacht was acquired by Nigerian businessman, Kolawole Aluko.
The yacht in question was seized by the US Government in 2018 after prosecutors made it known that it was bought with the proceeds of bribes paid to Nigeria’s former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison–Madueke.
The yacht was auctioned in 2019 for $37 million. Also, the Nigerian government recently dropped claims to the proceeds of the sale and a Texas Court ordered that all proceeds should be retained by the US Government.
Meanwhile, a former unit of the Bankrupt Enron, Enron Nigeria Power Holdings has claimed it’s entitled to the proceeds and demands $22 million in an effort to get an arbitration awarded to them against the government of Nigeria for suspension of a contract signed with Enron in 1999 to erect and operate a Power plant.
Enron Nigeria claims the government of Nigeria dropped claims to the yacht auction’s proceeds in an effort to fraudulently transfer assets to stall creditors from accessing them. In a DOJ court filing, Enron Nigeria says Nigeria dropping its claims was “a recognition of the factual and legal basis” in a DOJ court filing.
Enron Nigeria’s appeal has been opposed by both Nigerian and American governments.
The owner of Enron Nigeria Power Holdings Ltd is an ex-Enron staff involved in the negotiations for the Power Plant contract in Nigeria and the company was bought out of bankruptcy by a Cayman Islands registered company for $750,000 in 2004.
An arbitration ruling awarded Enron Nigeria Power Holdings $11.2 million including interest in damages against the Nigerian government in 2012.
The DOJ says Mr. Aluko purchased the yacht for $82 million in 2013 and sponsored a lavish lifestyle for Alison Madueke in exchange for NNPC contracts totalling over $1.5 billion.
