U.S. says it will repatriate to Nigeria about $1 million embezzled by ex-official

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will repatriate to Nigeria nearly $1 million, which were embezzled by the former governor of an oil-producing state, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

The step was in accordance with an agreement between the two governments to repatriate assets the United States forfeited that were traceable to what it calls the kleptocracy of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former governor of the oil-producing state of Bayelsa in the Niger Delta, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Alamieyeseigha was accused of corruption in 2005 when he was caught with almost a million pounds in cash in his London home, and was briefly jailed in Nigeria after pleading guilty to embezzlement and money laundering charges two years later.

He was governor for six years until 2005 when he was impeached for corruption. He died in 2015.

While he was governor, Alamieyeseigha accumulated property worth millions of dollars through corrupt and illegal activities, including property in Rockville, Maryland, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

Under the agreement announced on Thursday, the United States agreed to transfer $954,807 to Nigeria to support improvements in healthcare centers across Bayelsa State, according to the Justice Department.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Editing by Sandra Maler)