Nigerian authorities have seized assets belonging to a former education ministry official and his family members, who are on trial for alleged corruption. But real estate records show the family still controls two properties in the US that have not been seized.
Prosecutors allege that Dibu Ojerinde, 78, diverted at least $13.7 million from the education ministry’s National Examination Council, as well as the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board. He held positions in those bodies for almost two decades.
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Included in the 2019 lost assets seized from Mr Ojerinde and his family are a petrol station, schools, hotels, upscale properties in the nation’s capital, Abuja, and shares in various companies.
However, property records obtained by Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), PREMIUM TIMES and OCCRP show two additional properties in Florida. The houses — valued at around $1.2 million (N1.6 billion) combined — were not listed among the assets Nigerian authorities are seeking to confiscate in the case.
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Mr Ojerinde is facing an 18-count charge of diversion of public funds, abuse of office, and fraud-related offences, according to a 2021 indictment. A 2023 indictment for a separate case includes three of his children and his daughter-in-law, as well as six companies as defendants.
Mr Ojerinde’s sons, Adedayo, Olumide and Oluwaseun, are charged with criminal conspiracy to deal with or conceal property that was the subject of a corruption offence.
His daughter-in-law, Mary Funmilola Ojerinde, is facing two charges of concealing or managing property obtained through corrupt practices. The charges relate to her allegedly taking control of corporate management and bank accounts that Mr Ojerinde had allegedly owned and operated with false names.
Mr Ojerinde did not respond to questions submitted to his lawyer. His sons and his daughter-in-law did not reply to emails they had listed as contacts in company documents.
Two of Mr Ojerinde’s sons, as well as his daughter-in-law, purchased the US properties that didn’t make it onto the list of assets to be seized.
Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) alleges that Mr Ojerinde owned and managed companies and bank accounts using false identities. He allegedly used these identities to conceal his illicit financial activities while serving as the head of the two education bodies.
Mr Ojerinde allegedly “took measures to conceal his ownership and active participation in the management of some of these companies and assets acquired for his corrupt benefit, by using forged documents, stolen identities and synthetic names,” according to the 2023 indictment obtained by reporters.
The ICPC alleges that, when Nigeria introduced an anti–money laundering measure requiring a unique biometric identifier for all bank account holders, Mr Ojerinde transferred “administration and management of the two companies, as well as their bank accounts” to his daughter-in-law, Mary.
Less than a month later, in April 2015, Mary and her husband, Olumide, purchased their first property for $380,000 in Miramar, Florida.
A second property was purchased in June 2017 in Miami by Olumide and another son, Oluwaseun, for $300,000.
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The investments have since proven profitable, as the value of the two homes has increased considerably since the purchases.
In 2019, Mr Ojerinde’s sons and daughter-in-law made moves to transfer ownership of the two properties into trusts, which are legal arrangements that can shield the ultimate beneficiaries from public disclosure.
The Miramar house was transferred to an entity called Lenciaga Land Trust, while the Miami property was meant to be placed under the control of Venchy Land Trust.
However, the transfer of the Miami house did not succeed. Property registry documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that Miami-Dade County said it was unable to complete the title transfer because the identity of the trustee responsible for managing the trust had not been specified.
For four years, nothing was done. Then, in April 2023, almost a month after the sons and daughter-in-law were indicted, their US agent asked the county for assistance in correcting the filing.
However, according to public records, the Miami property still officially remains in the names of the two sons.
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