THEWILL Exclusive: USDOJ Investigates Atiku, Wife, Associates Over Wire Fraud

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SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 06, (THEWILL) – The United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) in Washington DC has opened investigations into allegations of wire fraud and money laundering against Nigeria’s former Vice President Atiku Abukakar, one of his wives, Jennifer, his US lawyer, Mr. Edward Weidenfield and an old business of Atiku, Gabriele Volpi, to determine whether they broke US government laws, a source at the USDOJ has told THEWILL.


The source, who opted to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak on the matter told THEWILL that the department will seek to question Atiku, Jennifer and his associates.


But when we sought to get a formal statement on the development from the USDOJ, a spokesperson for the department promised to get back to us as soon as possible. About 10 hours later, a spokesperson, Laura E. Sweeney contacted us but declined to comment on the matter. To all our questions she repeated, “We decline comment.”


The United States Government has been urged to investigate and charge Atiku and his associates for various alleged financial offences.


While we were working on the exclusive on the investigations on Atiku at the USDOJ, we obtained a copy of an initial indictment of the former Vice President and now a Presidential aspirant of the ruling party, the PDP, and his fourth wife, Jennifer by the United States Senate.


The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in its Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Chaired by Carl Levin in a report released on February 04, 2010, titled: “KEEPING FOREIGN CORRUPTION OUT OF THE UNITED STATES: FOUR CASE HISTORIES”, alleged that between 2000 and 2008, Mrs. Jennifer Abubakar, who has also gone by the names Jennifer Iwenjiora, Jamila Abubakar and Jennifer Douglas-Abubakar laundered about $40 million dollars including a $1.7 million bribe from Siemens AG for Atiku using more than 30 US bank accounts.


According to the indictment: “Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, a U.S. citizen, is the fourth wife of Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President of Nigeria and a former candidate for the Presidency of Nigeria. This case history examines how, from 2000 to 2008, Ms. Douglas helped her husband bring over $40 million in suspect funds into the United States, including at least $1.7 million in bribe payments from Siemens AG, a German corporation, and over $38 million from little known offshore corporations, primarily LetsGo Ltd. Inc., Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., and Sima Holding Ltd.


“Over half of the suspect funds, nearly $25 million, were wire transferred by the offshore corporations into U.S. bank accounts opened by Ms. Douglas. For most of the time period examined, the U.S. banks with those accounts were unaware of Ms. Douglas' PEP status, and allowed multiple large wire transfers into her accounts from the offshore corporations. As, over time, each of the banks began to question the wire transfers into her accounts, Ms. Douglas indicated that all of the funds came from her husband and professed little familiarity with the offshore corporations actually sending her money.


“Bank records indicate that Ms. Douglas used most of the funds placed into her accounts to support a lavish lifestyle in the United States, paying credit card bills and household expenses in the range of $10,000 to $90,000 per month, including substantial legal and accounting bills. She also transferred funds to accounts she opened for the Gede Foundation, a nonprofit corporation she established in 2002, and the American University of Nigeria (AUN), a university that Mr. Abubakar founded in 2003, and whose name reflects its association with American University in the United States.


“An additional $14 million of the suspect funds were wire transferred by two of the offshore corporations, LetsGo and the Guernsey Trust Company, to American University to pay for consulting fees related to AUN. American University officials told the Subcommittee that they understood the funds came from Mr. Abubakar and never inquired why the wire transfers were sent by unfamiliar offshore corporations. At least another $2.1 million was wire transferred by the Guernsey Trust Corporation to accounts controlled by Edward Weidenfeld, a U.S. lawyer who provided legal services to Ms. Douglas, Mr. Abubakar, and AUN. Mr. Weidenfeld explained that the funds paid for the Abubakars' legal expenses and an account set up for AUN, and that he had assumed the funds came from Mr. Abubakar.


“Over the years, questions have been raised about the source of Mr. Abubakar's wealth. He spent twenty years in the Nigerian Customs Service, and then worked in the private sector for ten years, before serving as Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. While Vice President, Mr. Abubakar was the subject ©f corruption allegations relating to the Nigerian Petroleum Technology Development Fund. In December 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a formal complaint against Siemens AG, a German company, that, among other actions, in 2001 and 2002, Siemens wire transferred $2.8 million in bribe payments to a U.S.)' bank account belonging to Ms. Douglas as part of a scheme to bribe Nigerian officials,” the US Senate investigation said.


“In response to this and other legal actions, Siemens admitted to engaging in widespread bribery payments, pled guilty to criminal violations and settled civil violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and agreed to pay over $1.6 billion in civil and criminal fines. Ms. Douglas has denied any wrongdoing, but the Subcommittee has obtained financial records showing the transfer of over $2 million from Siemens AG to Ms. Douglas' account at Citibank.”


“Mr. Abubakar has attributed his substantial wealth to fortunate investments. His wealth is attributable in part to a 16% ownership interest he held in Integrated Logistics Services Inc. ("Intels"), an oil services company formed in the 1980s, which has now become one of the largest Nigerian companies in the oil industry in Africa. When Mr. Abubakar took office in 1999, he placed his Intels shares in a blind trust. Instead of selecting an independent trustee from a financial firm, however, Mr. Abubakar appointed as trustee of the blind trust Orleans Invest Holding Ltd., a Panamanian corporation that is active in the oil industry in Africa, is closely associated with Intels, and is owned in part by Gabriele Volpi, Mr. Abubakar's trusted friend and business partner. Orlean served as trustee of the Abubakar Blind Trust from 1999 to 2003, when the trustees exchanged the Intels shares for shares in Orlean, thereby making the trust part owner of its own trustee. Orlean then resigned from the Abubakar Blind Trust and was replaced by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., a Nigerian shell company that was formed the day before the appointment. Mr. Volpi is one of three trustees of the Guernsey Trust Company whose sole activity is managing the Abubakar Blind Trust.


“From 2003 to 2008, the Guernsey Trust Company wire transferred over $10 million into the United States, including about $7 million into Douglas and AUN accounts; $2.1 million into the Weidenfeld law firm and AUN accounts; and $900,000 into American University accounts. Two other offshore corporations, LetsGo Ltd. and Sima Holdings Ltd., both of which are private corporations beneficially owned by Mr. Volpi and his family members, wire transferred nearly $27 million into the United States, including about $8 million into Ms. Douglas' accounts; $5.5 million into AUN accounts; and $13.1 million into American University accounts. Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee that LetsGo and Sima Holdings sent millions of dollars to Ms. Douglas in connection with Mr. Abubakar's ownership interest in Intels and a line of credit that LetsGo had extended to the Bind Trust.”


SIEMENS ACKNOWLEDGES BRIBE PAYMENTS TO ATIKU THROUGH JENNIFER


The indictment said: “In December 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed criminal and civil pleadings alleging that Siemens AG had violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and engaged in a wide-ranging pattern of paying bribes to foreign officials to advance its interests in several countries.1092 Siemens pled guilty to violating the books and recordkeeping requirements of the FCPA.1093 One provision in the SEC complaint alleged as follows:


"[Approximately $2.8 million of the bribe payments was routed through a bank account in Potomac, Maryland, in the name of the wife of a former Nigerian Vice President. The Vice President's wife, a dual U.S.-Nigerian citizen living in the United States, served as the representative of a business consultant that entered into fictitious business consultant agreements ... but did no actual work for Siemens. The purpose of these payments was to bribe government officials. Other corrupt payments included the purchase of approximately $172,000 in watches for Nigerian officials designated in internal Siemens records as 'P.' and 'V.P.,' likely referring to the President and Vice President of Nigeria."1094


“The Subcommittee contacted Siemens about this allegation and also reviewed the Citibank account records. The Subcommittee identified Citibank records showing three wire transfers from Siemens AG, in 2001 and 2002, that together provided over $1.7 million to Ms. Douglas' personal checking account at Citibank. This chart identifies those wire transfers.


Siemens Wire Transfers to Douglas Account at Citibank: 52096374 Using Citibank Wire Transfer Records


Wire Transfer Directed To


Date


Amount


Bates

J.E. Douglas


4/12/01


$450,703.79


B00007975, B00007962-63, B00007972

J.E. Douglas


10/01/01


$461,440.92


B00007979, B00007965-66

J.E Douglas Steradian Co. UK


1/28/02


$860,500.00


B00007989, B00007968-69, B00007984

SOURCE: Citibank


TOTAL: $1,772,644.71


Chart prepared by Subcommittee.


“When contacted by the Subcommittee, Siemens confirmed the information in the SEC complaint and said that the allegations in the complaint referred to payments made by the company to Ms. Douglas and to wire transfers sent to her checking account at Citibank in Potomac, Maryland.1 95 Siemens told the Subcommittee that it had asked an outside law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton, to conduct an independent investigation into corruption allegations, which included a review of the payments made by Siemens related to Ms. Douglas. Siemens told the Subcommittee that the law firm confirmed not only that Siemens AG had sent wire transfers to Ms. Douglas' account at Citibank, but also that it had sent a wire transfer to her at another bank and made nearly $2 million in additional cash payments to her over a three-year period, from 2000 to 2003. Siemens told the Subcommittee that those wire and cash payments had been made to "J.E. Douglas" or two companies she beneficially owned, "J.E Douglas Steradian Co. UK L," or "Peniel Inc. UK Ltd."

“The Subcommittee contacted the SEC for additional information related to its complaint, but the SEC declined to elaborate due to an ongoing investigation into individuals involved in the Siemens misconduct.1096 The Subcommittee also showed the Citibank wire transfers to Ms. Douglas' legal counsel and requested an explanation of the $1.7 million in wire transfers from Siemens to her account. Her legal counsel did not provide an explanation,” the Senate Committee stated.


See more on the indictment below. For the original copy of the document, see attachment tab to download.


V. ABUBAKAR CASE STUDY: USING OFFSHORE COMPANIES TO BRING SUSPECT FUNDS INTO THE UNITED STATES


Jennifer Douglas Abubakar, a U.S. citizen, is the fourth wife of Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President of Nigeria and a former candidate for the Presidency of Nigeria. This case history examines how, from 2000 to 2008, Ms. Douglas helped her husband bring over $40 million in suspect funds into the United States, including at least $1.7 million in bribe payments from Siemens AG, a German corporation, and over $38 million from little known offshore corporations, primarily LetsGo Ltd. Inc., Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., and Sima Holding Ltd.


Over half of the suspect funds, nearly $25 million, were wire transferred by the offshore corporations into U.S. bank accounts opened by Ms. Douglas. For most of the time period examined, the U.S. banks with those accounts were unaware of Ms. Douglas' PEP status, and allowed multiple large wire transfers into her accounts from the offshore corporations. As, over time, each of the banks began to question the wire transfers into her accounts, Ms. Douglas indicated that all of the funds came from her husband and professed little familiarity with the offshore corporations actually sending her money.


Bank records indicate that Ms. Douglas used most of the funds placed into her accounts to support a lavish lifestyle in the United States, paying credit card bills and household expenses in the range of $10,000 to $90,000 per month, including substantial legal and accounting bills. She also transferred funds to accounts she opened for the Gede Foundation, a nonprofit corporation she established in 2002, and the American University of Nigeria (AUN), a university that Mr. Abubakar founded in 2003, and whose name reflects its association with American University in the United States.


An additional $14 million of the suspect funds were wire transferred by two of the offshore corporations, LetsGo and the Guernsey Trust Company, to American University to pay for consulting fees related to AUN. American University officials told the Subcommittee that they understood the funds came from Mr. Abubakar and never inquired why the wire transfers were sent by unfamiliar offshore corporations. At least another $2.1 million was wire transferred by the Guernsey Trust Corporation to accounts controlled by Edward Weidenfeld, a U.S. lawyer who provided legal services to Ms. Douglas, Mr. Abubakar, and AUN. Mr. Weidenfeld explained that the funds paid for the Abubakars' legal expenses and an account set up for AUN, and that he had assumed the funds came from Mr. Abubakar.


Over the years, questions have been raised about the source of Mr. Abubakar's wealth. He spent twenty years in the Nigerian Customs Service, and then worked in the private sector for ten years, before serving as Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. While Vice President, Mr. Abubakar was the subject ©f corruption allegations relating to the Nigerian Petroleum Technology Development Fund. In December 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a formal complaint against Siemens AG, a German company, that, among other actions, in 2001 and 2002, Siemens wire transferred $2.8 million in bribe payments to a U.S.)' bank account belonging to Ms. Douglas as part of a scheme to bribe Nigerian officials. In response to this and other legal actions, Siemens admitted to engaging in widespread bribery payments, pled guilty to criminal violations and settled civil violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and agreed to pay over $1.6 billion in civil and criminal fines. Ms. Douglas has denied any wrongdoing, but the Subcommittee has obtained financial records showing the transfer of over $2 million from Siemens AG to Ms. Douglas' account at Citibank.


Mr. Abubakar has attributed his substantial wealth to fortunate investments. His wealth is attributable in part to a 16% ownership interest he held in Integrated Logistics Services Inc. ("Intels"), an oil services company formed in the 1980s, which has now become one of the largest Nigerian companies in the oil industry in Africa. When Mr. Abubakar took office in 1999, he placed his Intels shares in a blind trust. Instead of selecting an independent trustee from a financial firm, however, Mr. Abubakar appointed as trustee of the blind trust Orleans Invest Holding Ltd., a Panamanian corporation that is active in the oil industry in Africa, is closely associated with Intels, and is owned in part by Gabriele Volpi, Mr. Abubakar's trusted friend and business partner. Orlean served as trustee of the Abubakar Blind Trust from 1999 to 2003, when the trustees exchanged the Intels shares for shares in Orlean, thereby making the trust part owner of its own trustee. Orlean then resigned from the Abubakar Blind Trust and was replaced by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., a Nigerian shell company that was formed the day before the appointment. Mr. Volpi is one of three trustees of the Guernsey Trust Company whose sole activity is managing the Abubakar Blind Trust.


From 2003 to 2008, the Guernsey Trust Company wire transferred over $10 million into the United States, including about $7 million into Douglas and AUN accounts; $2.1 million into the Weidenfeld law firm and AUN accounts; and $900,000 into American University accounts. Two other offshore corporations, LetsGo Ltd. and Sima Holdings Ltd., both of which are private corporations beneficially owned by Mr. Volpi and his family members, wire transferred nearly $27 million into the United States, including about $8 million into Ms. Douglas' accounts; $5.5 million into AUN accounts; and $13.1 million into American University accounts. Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee that LetsGo and Sima Holdings sent millions of dollars to Ms. Douglas in connection with Mr. Abubakar's ownership interest in Intels and a line of credit that LetsGo had extended to the Bind Trust.


A. Background

Nigeria. Nigeria is lqcated on the west coast of Africa, on the Gulf of Guinea. With more than 145 million citizens, it is the eighth most populous country in the world, and the most populous nation on the African continent. 54 Nigeria has a diverse ethnic make-up, with three majorethnic groups, the Hausa, Ibo, and Yoruba, comprising nearly 40% of the population.95 The official language of Nigeria is English, and the official currency is the naira. The predominant religions are Christianity and Islam, with Islam predominant in the north of the country, and Christianity predominant in the south.


Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom on October 1, 1960, and now operates as a federal republic of 36 states. Following years of military rule, Nigeria elected its first President in 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo, who was re-elected in 2003. Mr. Abubakar was his Vice President. In 2007, Umaru Yar'Adua won election as President over Mr. Abubakar and another candidate, marking the first peaceful civilian transfer of power in Nigeria. International observers nevertheless criticized the 2007 election, citing vote rigging and fraud. The European Union described the election as "not credible," and the United States described it as "deeply troubling."958 The President of Nigeria holds a maximum of two, four-year terms. The country also has a bicameral legislature and 36 state governors.


Nigeria ranks among the top ten nations in the world in proven oil reserves,960 and is the second largest oil producer in Africa.961 It is one of the world's largest exporters of oil, and its economy is highly reliant on oil revenues, which make up about 95% of generated revenues in the country.962 Its oil production facilities are concentrated in the Niger Delta region, which is an impoverished area despite its oil reserves. Militants have staged numerous attacks against the area's oil production facilities, demanding that a greater share of oil proceeds be allocated to the region. A World Bank report notes that 80% of Nigeria's oil wealth benefits only 1% of the population,96 and the United Nations currently ranks Nigeria as among the world's worst performing countries in life expectancy and infant mortality rate.964 In addition, the 2008 U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report characterizes Nigeria's human rights record as "poor" and states that "government officials at all levels continued to commit serious abuses."


Corruption.

Nigeria has long had a problem with corruption. The U.S. State Department's most recent Human Rights Report provides the following description of the corruption problem in Nigeria during 2008:


• "Corruption was massive, widespread, and pervasive, at all levels of government and society. The constitution provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office."


• "Police mistreated civilians regularly to extort money."


• "According to the Swiss-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, authorities demolished more than 800,000 homes in the Abuja area since 2003. There was widespread opinion that the demolitions were primarily motivated by corruption and discrimination based on socioeconomic class, since mostly lower and middle class persons lost their homes and property, which was sold to wealthy persons with connections to government officials once vacated." • "The EFCC's anticorruption efforts waned, with little progress on prosecutions of federal, state, and local officials accused of comaption."966


The latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index ranks Nigeria 121 out of 180 countries.


In 2002, then-President Olusegun Obasanjo created the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute corruption. Nuhu Ribadu was appointed as the first EFCC chair and experienced significant success, including prosecutions of government officials and the recovery of over $5 billion in stolen assets.969 During one investigation of the Governor of the Niger Delta state, Mr. Ribadu was offered a $15 million dollar bribe, seized the money, and brought criminal charges against the Governor. 7 Mr. Ribadu was removed from his post soon thereafter, and experienced two attempts on his life. In a recent interview, Mr. Ribadu estimated that more than $380 billion had been lost to corruption in Nigeria since its independence.


Until recently, Nigeria was considered non cooperative in the battle against money laundering. In 2001, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) identified Nigeria as non-cooperative in the fight against money laundering. The next year, in 2002, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued an advisory informing U.S. banks of the "serious deficiencies in the counter-money laundering systems of the Federal Republic of Nigeria" and warning that "banks and other financial institutions operating in the United States should carefully consider, when dealing with transactions (especially those involving large sums of money, whether in cash or by wire transfer), originating in or routed to or through Nigeria, or involving entities organized or domiciled, or persons maintaining accounts, in Nigeria, how the lack of adequate counter-money laundering controls in Nigeria affects the possibility that those transactions are being used for illegal purposes."973 In 2006, due to Nigeria's enactment of AML laws, FATF removed Nigeria from its list of non-cooperative countries. In May 2007, Treasury withdrew its advisory to U.S. financial systems.


Atiku Abubakar

For about twenty years, until 1989, Atiku Abubakar worked in the Nigerian Customs Service, rising to the rank of Deputy Director.975 For the next ten years, he worked in the private sector with interests in oil, media, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and publishing.976 Mr. Abubakar has been quoted in the media as stating that he became wealthy "through wise investments, hard work and sheer luck of being at the right place at the right time.


In the 1980s, Mr. Abubakar entered into a business venture with Gabriele Volpi through a company formed to provide oil and natural gas services at African ports. According to a biography of Mr. Abubakar, which was written with "his support and encouragement," Mr. Abubakar and Mr. Volpi formed this oil logistics company in the early 1980s, as a Nigerian corporation called Nigeria Container Services Inc. ("NICOTES").980 Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee that he founded NICOTES in the early 1980s and invited Mr. Abubakar to become a director and shareholder in 1989.981 Some sources indicate that the company had a third founder as well, the late General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, a political mentor to Mr. Abubakar and the elder brother of the current President of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar' Adua.


According to the Atiku Biography, in 1996, Sani Abacha, then President of Nigeria, seized control of the NICOTES shares belonging to Mr. Abubakar and Mr. Yar'Adua, and renamed the company Integrated Logistics Services Inc. ("Intels")-'8' After Mr. Abacha's death two years later in 1998, Mr. Volpi returned the shares to Mr. Abubakar. Mr. Volpi confirmed this description of the company's development, stating through his legal counsel that Mr. Abubakar "was stripped of his financial interests in NICOTES" by General Abacha and that "Mr. Volpi made a moral agreement with Mr. Abubakar to restore Mr. Abubakar's forfeited financial interest as soon as the political circumstances would permit." According to Mr. Volpi's legal counsel: "In 1999, Mr. Volpi and Mr. Abubakar agreed that Mr. Abubakar could reclaim a 16% holding of the issued share capital of Intel Services (Integrated Logistics Services)


Limited, a Nigerian company and the successor NICOTES West Africa Services, Ltd. In 2003, Mr. Volpi and Mr. Abubakar agreed to reinstate Mr. Abubakar's full financial interest."


Mr. Volpi is currently the managing director and chief executive officer of Intels. Gian Angelo Perruci of Italy and Daniel Sigaud of France are also reported to be senior managers of die company. Intels is now one of the largest Nigerian companies in the African oil industry, operating oil terminals and oil services zones at ports in several countries including Nigeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe. ExxonMobil told the Subcommittee, for example, that in less than three years, from 2006 to the fall of 2008, it paid more than $245 million to Intels West Africa Inc. and Intels Nigeria Inc., two Intels affiliates, for providing oil services in Nigeria.


Exxon told the Subcommittee that it made these payments through two Exxon subsidiaries: Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN) and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPN). Exxon-Mobil Attachment 5, (Nigeria) Payments to senior foreign political figures, their relatives, or entity owned or controlled by such persons, PSI-


Exxon-0118-19. • Exxon identified these payments to Intels-related companies from 2006 to 2008:


Payee 2006 USD 2007 USD 2008 USD (through September)


Intel West Africa Lts. 10,170,959.43 9,460,437.42 8,013,785.32


Intels Nigeria Ltd. 98,768.72 281,406.69 813,084.78


Intel West Africa Ltd. 37,429,643.95 118,776,151.71 29,862,791.83


Intels Nigeria Lts. 406,472.15 22,236,104.99 7,898,653.11


Total 48,105,844.25 150,754,100.81 46,588,315.04


After ten years in the private sector, in May 1999, Mr. Abubakar was elected Vice President of Nigeria under President Obasanjo. He held that position for eight years until May 2007. By the time he took office, Nigerian law banned full-time public officials from engaging in private business activities other than farming.990 On July 22, 1999, Mr. Abubakar established a "Blind Trust" under Nigerian law.991 According to the trustees, the Blind Trust was formed to hold and manage his "assets, businesses], and investments."992 The sole asset placed in the trust was Mr. Abubakar's Intels shares, then representing "a 16% holding in the issued share capital of Intel Services (Integrated Logistic Services) Limited."


Normally, blind trusts are managed by a trustee who is independent of both the grantor who places assets into the trust and the trust beneficiaries.994 After appointment of the trustee, the trust grantor and beneficiaries are typically unable to monitor the trust assets - hence the Nigerian law states that a public officer is not to "engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession or trade."


See Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, 2 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria Cap. CI5 §6(b)(current through Mar. 2006)(official source). Business is defined as "any profession, vocation, trade or any adventure or concern in the nature of trade, and excludes farming." In addition, the Nigerian Constitution states that public officers are "not to put themselves in a position where [their] personal interests]conflict with [their] duties and responsibilities." The Constitution of the Federation of Nigeria, 5 Schedule § 1(enacted 1999). See also Law Library of Congress, "Nigeria: Restrictions on Business Activities of Public Officers," No. 2010-003703, January 2010.


991 See 7/22/99 "Deed of Trust (Blind Trust)," PSI-Volpi-03-00007-16.


992 See 11/11/09 letter from Guernsey Trust Company's legal counsel to the Subcommittee, EW000001-03, at 01.


The letter stated in part:

"Our client is a Trust Corporation incorporated on the 9th of October 2003 and empowered pursuant to a Deed of Blind Trust dated 22nd July 1999 ("the Blind Trust") to hold as trustee and manage the assets, business and investments of Atiku Abubakar, a citizen of the federal Republic of Nigeria, and a former holder of the office of Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At the current time, the principal asset or investment held by our client as trustee for the said Atiku Abubakar is 16% of the shareholding equity in Orlean Invest Holdings Limited, ("Orlean") a company registered under the laws of Panama."


Abubkar Blind Trust at 6, See also 11/11/09 letter from Guernsey Trust Company's legal counsel to the Subcommittee, EW000001-03, at 02; 1/29/10 Volpi letter at 2; 8/6/08 ExxonMobil written responses to Subcommittee questions, PSI-Exxon_Mobil-06-0001. The trust makes no reference to any other Abubakar business interests.


According to the Congressional Research Service, a blind trust "is a device employed by a federal official to hold, administer and manage the private financial assets, investments and ownerships of the official, and his or her spouse and dependent children, as a method of conflict of interest avoidance. In establishing a qualified blind trust upon the approval of the appropriate supervisory ethics entity, the official transfers, without restriction, control and management of private assets to an independent trustee who may not communicate information about the identity ofthe holdings in the trust to the official. The trust is considered 'blind' because eventually, through the sale of transferred assets and the purchase of new ones, the public officer will be sliielded from knowledge of the identity of the specific assets in the trust. Without such knowledge, conflict of interest issues would be avoided because no particular asset in the trust could act as an influence upon the official duties that the officer performs for the Government.'* Congressional Research Service, "The Use of Blind Trust by Federal Officials," September 23, 2005, No. Cod RS21656, September 23, 2005. See also, Business Dictionary, http://www.businessdictionarv.coni-'defmition/'blind-trust.html, ("Blind trusts are created to avoid any potential conflict of interest between the duties of a public officeholder and his or her choice of investment portfolio. The trust funds are placed at the full discretion of a trustee (such as a trust company) independent of the trustor in name and reality.").


name "blind trust."

In the case of the Abubakar Blind Trust, however, Mr. Abubakar did not appoint an independent trustee from a financial institution, but instead appointed corporations associated with Mr. Volpi, who has been described by Ms. Douglas and Mr. Abubakar's legal adviser, Edward Weidenfeld, as Mr. Abubakar's "trusted friend and business partner."9'


The initial trustee of the Blind Trust, appointed in 1999, was a Panamanian corporation called Orlean Invest Holdings Ltd.995 Orlean is another oil services company that is headquartered in London, has subsidiaries in several west African countries, and is closely associated with Intels.997 Mr. Volpi has told the Subcommittee that he is the Chairman of Orlean, and that the Volpi Family Trust currently owns 63% of the company through Sima Holdings and a Liechtenstein trust called Adiana Stiftung.99" The Subcommittee was told that, from 1999 to 2003, Orlean managed the Abubakar Blind Trust, including the Intels shares and "the profits generated thereby were utilised in developing new business initiatives and investments, particularly in Nigeria, Angola, Congo (Brazzaville) and the Ivory Coast."


According to the Guernsey Trust Company's legal counsel, in 2003, Orleans re-organized and "acquired Atiku Abubakar's beneficial interests in Intels Services Limited, for Orlean's benefit, and issued in consideration therefore, 16% of the shares in Orlean to the Blind Trust for the benefit of Atiku Abubakar."1000 In other words, Mr. Abubakar exchanged his 16% ownership interest in Intels for an equivalent ownership interest in Orlean. His acquisition of the Orlean shares meant that he became a part owner of the trustee of his Blind Trust. Orlean also became a major shareholder of Intels.1001


The Subcommittee was told that, after this exchange of shares, Orlean retired as the trustee of the Abubakar Blind Trust and, on October 10, 2003, was replaced by Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd. ("Guernsey Trust Company"), a shell company formed one day earlier under the laws of Nigeria.


Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee that this company was incorporated in Panama in 1984 under the name Bivo Financial S.A., was renamed Orlean Invest Holding S.A. in 1985, was re-domiciled in 2004 in the British Virgin Islands, and was renamed again in 2004, as Orlean Invest Holdings Ltd.


Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee that Orlean currently owns 70% of Intels Nigeria Ltd. but did not disclose to the Subcommittee that this company has three beneficial owners who provide the trustee services required by the Abubakar Blind Trust: Gabriele Volpi, Uyiekpen Giwa-Osagie, and Fati Akintola Kekere-Ekun.1003 Mr. G iwa-Osagie is the managing partner in the Nigerian law firm, Giwa-Osagie & Associates, which provides legal advice to the Guernsey Trust Company. Mr. Kekere-Ekun is the chief executive officer and managing director of Habib National Bank Ltd. in Nigeria, a trustee on the AUN board of trustees, and was chosen in part due to "his reliability and relationship with Mr. Abubakar."1005 The sole trust that is managed by the company is the Abubakar Blind Trust.


The Blind Trust states that it "shall operate for so long as the Beneficiary holds Government office in the Republic of Nigeria," and that upon his leaving office, "the Trustee shall transfer the ownership of record and management of the investment interest... to the Beneficiary or as the Beneficiary shall designate at that time."100 Despite this provision, the Blind Trust continued in existence after Mr. Abubakar left office in May 2007, continuing to send, for example, wire transfers to banks in the United States.


The Subcommittee has been told that the Abubakar Blind Trust has had a single asset over time - shares of stock. The Subcommittee has also been told that, through dividends, those shares generated millions of dollars in cash revenues that were then used to send a steady stream of wire transfers to bank accounts in the United States.


From 2003 to 2008, for example, the Guernsey Trust Company wire transferred at least $10 million into the United States, including at least $7 million to Douglas-related accounts at several U.S. banks, $2.1 million to the Weidenfeld law office and AUN accounts at Suntrust Bank, and $900,000 to American University accounts. Ms. Douglas, Mr. Weidenfeld, and American University each told the Subcommittee that they had no information about the Guernsey Trust Company, were unaware of its relation to the Abubakar Blind Trust, and did not deal with the Guernsey Trust Company trustees. Each indicated that they had simply assumed the funds sent by the Guernsey Trust Company belonged to Mr. Abubakar.


Two other companies beneficially owned by Mr. Volpi and his relatives as explained below, LetsGo and Sima Holding, sent nearly $27 million into the United States, including about $8 million to Ms. Douglas' accounts, $5.5 million to AUN accounts, and $13.1 million to American University accounts. When asked about these wire transfers, Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee through legal counsel that the funds sent to Ms. Douglas "related to a moral agreement by Mr. Volpi with Mr.. Abubakar to acknowledge Mr. Abubakar's financial interests"


Volpi, however, described these three individuals as the directors of the corporation and the trustees of the Abubakar Blind Trust, and Mr. Abubakar as the sole beneficial owner of the Guernsey Trust Company.


In addition, Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee that he had made donations and extended a separate line of credit to AUN, and that some of the payments sent by LetsGo to AUN and American University accounts reflected those funding commitments.


Mr. Abubakar served as Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. In 2006, President Obasanjo attempted to amend the Nigerian Constitution to allow him to run for a third term. Mr. Abubakar opposed that effort, leading to a falling out between the two.1010 After President Obasanjo's effort failed, an election for a new President was scheduled, and Mr. Abubakar announced his candidacy. In response, the Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission ruled that he was disqualified from running for President, because he was under investigation for corruption.1011 A few months later, on March 12, 2007, the Federal High Court of Nigeria ruled that the Commission had no authority to disqualify candidates.1012 Mr. Abubakar's name was added to the ballot at the last minute. The official results showed that he took third place behind two other candidates, with about seven percent of the vote.


During the presidential campaign, the Nigerian Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), under the leadership of Nuhu Ribadu, initiated a corruption investigation of several Nigerian government officials, including Mr. Abubakar.1013 The EFCC issued a report which found that Mr. Abubakar had used his influence over Nigeria's Petroleum Technology Development Fund ("PTDF") to disburse money from the Fund to promote business ventures for himself and his friends, and that he had engaged in fraudulent conversion of funds, corrupt practices, and money laundering.1014 In February 2007, a Nigerian ad hoc Senate Committee was formed to examine the EFCC charges. Mr. Abubakar made a presentation to the Committee.


This explanation suggests that Mr. Volpi directed LetsGo to send the borrowed funds directly to Ms.Douglas instead of providing them to the actual borrower, the Abubakar Blind Trust, and allowing the trustees to asserting in part that the allegations v» ere a bid to prevent him from running for office. The Senate Committee subsequently called for Mr. Abubakar to be "sanctioned," because he had "abused his office by aiding and abetting the diversion of public funds in the sum of $145 million" as loans to his friends.1016 The Subcommittee found no evidence, however, that the full Senate imposed such a sanction on Mr. Abubakar.


On August 5, 2009, U.S. Congressman William Jefferson was convicted by a federal jury of soliciting bribes, money laundering, depriving citizens of honest services as a member of Congress, and operating his Congressional office as a racketeering enterprise. During his trial, a videotape was shown in which the Congressman made a reference to Mr. Abubakar when the Congressman was seeking money from another person, but no evidence was introduced showing that Mr. Abubakar had actually sought or accepted a bribe from the Congressman. Mr. Abubakar asserted his innocence, and that his name had been invoked in the matter to ruin his reputation and prevent him from winning the Presidency in Nigeria.


Currently, Mr. Abubakar does not hold political office in Nigeria, but has resumed his business career. The Subcommittee contacted him through his legal counsel, but he declined to participate in an interview.


Jennifer Douglas.

Jennifer Elizabeth Douglas, who has also gone by the names Jennifer Iwenjiora, Jamila Abubakar, and Jennifer Douglas-Abubakar, is the fourth wife of Atiku Abubakar. According to the Atiku Biography, Ms. Douglas was born in Nigeria as Jennifer Iwenjiora, worked as a television journalist at the Nigerian Television Authority, and dated Mr. Abubakar in the early 1980s, before leaving for the United States.1019 She lost touch with Mr. Abubakar while attending Howard University.1020 She subsequently married in the United States, took the married name of Jennifer Douglas, and later divorced, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen during this time period:1022 Ms. Douglas eventually renewed her relationship with Mr. Abubakar who came to visit her in the United States. According to the Atiku Biography, from late 1995 to early 1998, while Sani Abacha was in power in Nigeria, Mr. Abubakar "spent most of his time in Maryland" with Ms. Douglas, making occasional visits to Nigeria. In or around 2000, Ms. Douglas became a doctoral student at American University and, in 2007, received her doctorate degree in international relations. According to the Atiku Biography, Ms. Douglas and Mr. Abubakar "married officially in 2003."1025 In July 2003, Ms. Douglas made a $1 million donation to the American University School of International Service Building Fund.


Since 2000, Ms. Douglas has resided in a luxury home in Potomac, Maryland, a wealthy suburb of Washington, D.C. In bank account opening documents and tax documents, she has listed her occupation as "student," "homemaker," and "unemployed." She has consistently told the banks where she opened accounts that her husband, Mr. Abubakar, provided the funds for her accounts. For example, in a November 21, 2003 letter provided to Citibank, she stated that she received "a yearly maintenance income from spouse of $500,000."1028 She also said that she received dividends and interest from various accounts and investments totaling about $ 1,600 per month. In addition, she had access to $5 million in assets in a Jennifer Douglas Abubakar (JDA) Family Trust.


The letter also stated that Ms. Douglas received a salary of about $62,000 per year from the Gede Foundation, which Ms. Douglas had established in 2002, to advance various charitable causes, including health problems in Nigeria. Ms. Douglas told Citibank that she received "a minimal income" of about $1,000 per month and "an agreed yearly bonus" of $50,000 "paid in [a] lump [sum] yearly after every fundraising."1030 Ms. Douglas also served as an unpaid trustee on the board of trustees of the American University of Nigeria (AUN), which was founded by Mr. Abubakar in 2003, to provide an American-style university in northern Nigeria where he was born. Documents indicate that Ms. Douglas helped convince American University to assist with the establishment of AUN and used her personal bank accounts to pay some AUN expenses.


Bank documents show that most of the funds in Ms. Douglas' U.S. bank accounts came from wire transfers provided by offshore corporations. When her banks asked about these corporations, Ms. Douglas consistently told them that she was unfamiliar with the nature of the offshore corporations sending her money. In 2009, when the Subcommittee asked her about the Guernsey Trust Company, LetsGo, Sima Holding, and China Castle Investments, Ms. Douglas responded through her legal counsel that she "has no personal knowledge of these entities. To the extent that any of these entities were the source of deposits into her accounts or the AUN account, she understood that all such deposits came from her husband."


In December 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed criminal and civil pleadings alleging that Siemens AG, a major German company traded on the New York Stock Exchange, violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by making bribery payments to obtain business in multiple countries, including Nigeria. Siemens pleaded guilty to violating the books and recordkeeping provisions of the FCPA, and agreed to pay combined criminal and civil fines totaling more than $1.6 billion. One of the allegations in the SEC civil complaint against Siemens was that "approximately $2.8 million of the bribe payments was routed through a bank account in Potomac, Maryland, in the name of the wife of a former Nigerian Vice President."1034 The Subcommittee has obtained wire transfer documentation substantiating this allegation, as explained below. Through her legal counsel, however, Ms. Douglas denies any wrongdoing.


Ms. Douglas currently resides primarily in the United Arab Emirates, employed as a professor of political science at the American University of Sharjah. When contacted by the Subcommittee, Ms. Douglas voluntarily produced documents and answered written Subcommittee questions, but declined to participate in a Subcommittee interview. Mr. Abubakar, through his legal counsel, declined to answer any questions from the Subcommittee.


American University of Nigeria. In addition to opening U.S. bank accounts for her personal use, Ms. Douglas opened several U.S. bank accounts on behalf of American University of Nigeria (AUN), which was founded by Mr. Abubakar in 2003. Originally called ABTI University, the school changed its name in September 2004, to ABTI American University of Nigeria, and then changed its name again in May 2007, to American University of Nigeria.10 The university is located in Yola, which is the capital of Adamawa State in Northern Nigeria, where Mr. Abubakar was born. It opened its doors to at least 110 students in 2005, and saw its first graduates in 2009.1037


The AUN website describes the school in the following manner:


"American University of Nigeria was created in response to the demand for high-quality, American-style higher education in West Africa. Each year, thousands of West African families send their sons and daughters to universities in the United States. Many of these students would prefer to study here, in Nigeria, if a comparable education were available. Now these students do have a new option: AUN.


The mission of AUN is to offer an education that is in every way the equal of what a student would experience at the best universities in the United States. The majority of the distinguished faculty are American; the campus facilities are world class-superior even to those found at most American campuses. The academic programs are built on the American model and are consistent in every way with US accreditation standards.


The University was created in partnership with the American University in Washington, D.C., an institution with an international reputation for excellence."1


Information reviewed by the Subcommittee indicates that Ms. Douglas played an active role in AUN's establishment and operation. She approached American University in 2002, where she was a doctoral student, for assistance in establishing the university and acted as a liaison between the university and her husband. Since the university's inception, she has served as an unpaid trustee on the AUN board of trustees. In addition, Ms. Douglas was tasked by her husband to help pay AUN bills, in particular the salaries of AUN professors who agreed to teach at AUN but requested payment in U.S. dollars.


Bank records obtained by the Subcommittee show that AUN utilized several accounts at U.S. financial institutions, including personal accounts opened by Ms. Douglas at Citibank and Wachovia, and an account opened by Mr. Weidenfeld's law firm at Suntrust Bank. Funding for those accounts came primarily from three offshore corporations, the Guernsey Trust Company, LetsGo, and Sima Holdings. In 2008, AUN also opened accounts at Standard Chartered Bank in London and apparently is now in the process of closing its remaining U.S. accounts in favor of its London accounts. Bank records show that AUN also has accounts at several banks in Nigeria


From 2003 to 2007, American University accepted about $14 million in multiple wire transfers from LetsGo and the Guernsey Trust Company, to pay consulting fees for its work related to AUN. After receiving an inquiry from the Subcommittee about the source of these funds, American University negotiated a new consultancy agreement with AUN in 2008, in which AUN agreed to provide fees to AU directly from AUN's own bank accounts.


Edward Weidenfeld. Edward Weidenfeld is a U.S. lawyer who practices in the Washington, D.C. area, and has provided legal counsel to Ms. Douglas, Mr. Abubakar, and AUN. Mr. Weidenfeld first met Ms. Douglas in 2002, when he provided her with estate planning services. He then had infrequent contact with her until 2004, when he provided additional legal services. 104° In August 2005, after her residence was searched in connection with the Congressman Jefferson investigation, he recommended a criminal defense attorney and worked as co-counsel in that matter.1041 Mr. Weidenfeld also provided legal advice to Mr. Abubakar related to his 2006-2007 presidential campaign in Nigeria.1042 At the request of Mr. Abubakar and Ms. Douglas, he has also provided legal advice related to their interactions with U.S. banks, helped advise AUN, and provided legal advice in connection with the Subcommittee's inquiry.1043


Documents reviewed by the Subcommittee show that when Citibank closed the Douglas-related accounts in 2007, Mr. Weidenfeld helped her open accounts at Wachovia Bank. Wachovia already provided banking services to American University and knew Mr. Weidenfeld. He provided a letter of recommendation for Ms. Douglas and served as a cosignatory on the AUN account she opened at that bank. When Wachovia indicated it planned to close the accounts, he persuaded the bank to grant Ms. Douglas additional time so that she could look for another bank. In 2008, he helped establish an AUN account at Suntrust Bank, opening it in connection with his law firm which already had accounts at the bank and agreeing to serve as the account signatory. During the first eight months of 2008, Mr. Weidenfeld accepted over $1.3 million in wire transfers into his law firm account from the Guernsey Trust Company to pay the Abubakars' legal bills, and has on occasion transferred funds to other accounts for them. He accepted another $2 million in offshore wire transfers into the AUN account for which he was a signatory. He told the Subcommittee that he never dealt directly with the Guernsey Trust Company and no information about the company that sent him millions of dollars, but simply assumed it was providing funds supplied by Mr. Abubakar.


Mr. Weidenfeld cooperated with the Subcommittee's inquiry by voluntarily producing documents and answering written questions from the Subcommittee.


Gabriele Volpi. Gabriele Volpi, 63, is a citizen of Italy, a billionaire, and a businessman associated with numerous ventures, including Orlean Invest Holdings Ltd. and Intels, which are active inthe oil industry in western Africa. Mr. Volpi told the Subcommittee that he is currently the chairman of Orlean.1044 He is also the managing director and chief executive officer of Intels, which owns oil terminals and oil services zones at multiple ports in Africa. He is known for his ownership of a luxurious 60-meter yacht and an internationally recognized water polo team in Italy.


Mr. Volpi is closely associated with the three offshore corporations, the Guernsey Trust Company, LetsGo, and Sima Holding, that collectively sent over $38 million to the United States in connection with this matter. He is one of the three directors and trustees of the Guernsey Trust Company, which is located in Nigeria.1047 LetsGo is a Panamanian corporation which "receives and disburses funds for personal and business use from companies owned or controlled by Mr. Volpi," and it is beneficially owned by Mr. Volpi and his wife.1048 Sima Holdings is a British Virgin Islands corporation that is beneficially owned by Mr. Volpi, his wife, and sons through a family trust.1049


Mr. Volpi cooperated with the Subcommittee investigation by voluntarily answering a number of questions through his legal counsel.


B. Using Offshore Corporations to Bring Suspect Funds into the United States


From 2000 to 2008, Mr. Abubakar and Ms. Douglas used a network of accounts at U.S. financial institutions to bring over $40 million in suspect funds into the United States, through multiple wire transfers supplied by offshore corporations located in Germany, Nigeria, Panama, the British Virgin Islands, and Switzerland. Nearly $25 million of those funds were wire transferred to more than 30 U.S. bank accounts opened by Ms. Douglas in her own name or in the name of the Jennifer Douglas Abubakar Family Trust, the Gede Foundation, or American University of Nigeria (AUN). She opened 18 of those accounts at Citibank, four at Chevy Chase Bank, six at Wachovia Bank, and three at Eagle Bank in Maryland, among other financial institutions. These five banks opened accounts for Ms. Douglas in most cases without being aware of her PEP status, at times relying on third party vendors using incomplete PEP databases or inadequate due diligence procedures. Over time, as each financial institution began to ask questions about the offshore corporations sending her funds and decided to close her accounts, she opened new accounts at other financial institutions, at times with the assistance of her U.S. lawyer, Edward Weidenfeld. Mr. Weidenfeld also accepted $3.4 million from offshore entities to pay the Abubakars' legal bills and to fund an AUN account he opened at Suntrust Bank.


To analyze these accounts and transactions, the Subcommittee subpoenaed documents from a number of U.S. financial institutions. In most cases, the Subcommittee obtained bank documents covering a five-year period, from 2003 to 2008, although it obtained records for some earlier transactions as well. The Subcommittee did not attempt to trace all of the funds that went into or out of the accounts discussed below, nor did the Subcommittee examine every U.S. bank account opened by Ms. Douglas.1050 Instead, the Subcommittee focused its analysis on more than 30 accounts at five U.S. banks, as detailed below. The resulting analysis, while limited, shows how Mr. Abubakar and Ms. Douglas used offshore corporations to bring suspect funds into the United States and provides a conservative estimate of the amount of funds they actually introduced into the U.S. financial system to advance their interests.


(1) Citibank

From 2000 to 2007, Mr. Abubakar and Ms. Douglas opened 18 different accounts at Citibank in Potomac, Maryland, and brought nearly $20 million in suspect funds into the United States through the bank. These accounts consisted of five personal checking accounts, five savings accounts, two brokerage accounts, a home equity account, three accounts in the name of the Gede Foundation, and two additional personal checking accounts that were later expanded to reference both Ms. Douglas and AUN.1051 Ms. Douglas also maintained four Citibank credit card accounts, three of which were for herself or her husband, and one of which was for the Gede Foundation. Over the nearly seven years these accounts were open, Ms. Douglas received multiple wire transfers totaling nearly $20 million from Siemens AG, LetsGo, Guernsey Trust Company, Sima Holding, China Castle Investments, and a few unidentified "clients." For most of the seven years, Citibank was unaware of Ms. Douglas' PEP status. In 2007, Citibank learned of Ms. Douglas' PEP status, and began closing her accounts. By August 2007, all of her accounts were closed.


Initial Personal Accounts. Ms. Douglas opened her first two accounts with Citigroup on June 28, 2000, Checking Account No. 52096374 and Savings Account No. 52096382.1053 In the account opening documentation, Ms. Douglas identified herself as a U.S. citizen residing in Maryland, and supplied a social security number.1054 Citibank told the Subcommittee: ''Nothing in Ms. Douglas's initial application referenced or suggested that she had any connection to a foreign country or had a relationship with any foreign official. As a result, consistent with applicable law, Ms. Douglas was not considered to be a 'politically exposed person' or 'PEP.'"1055 During her seven years with Citibank, this initial personal checking account was the one that received the bulk of the wire transfers from offshore corporations.


1 50 For example, Ms. Douglas had two accounts at Riggs Bank from September 1999 through May 2005, Checking Account No. 24-776-946 and Money Market Account No. 64-838-355, which received over $5.2 million in deposits. When PNC purchased Riggs Bank, it provided Ms. Douglas with a new account, No. 53-0100-7567, from May 2005 to May 2008, which received deposits totaling nearly $1.1 million, including four $100,000 wire transfers from the Guernsey Trust Company in Nigeria. See list of Douglas accounts prepared by her legal counsel and related wire transfer documentation, no bates number. The Subcommittee did not attempt to trace these funds or determine how they related to the accounts examined in this Report.


Credit Card Accounts.

Also in 2000, Ms. Douglas opened two personal CitiCard credit card accounts.10i6 One credit card account, opened in June 2000, listed both her and Mr. Abubakar as authorized signatories and identified Mr. Abubakar as her husband, but did not identify him as a foreign official. A second credit card account, opened in July 2000, also listed both her and Mr. Abubakar as authorized users, and was linked to a third credit card account held solely in Ms. Douglas's name and for which Ms. Douglas was financially responsible.1058 The first credit card account was closed in March 2005. The second remained open until all the Douglas-related accounts were closed in 2007. Citibank told the Subcommittee that these credit card accounts were "the only Citigroup accounts indentified to which Ms. Douglas's husband had a direct connection."


Smith Barney Account. In June 2000 and January 2001, Ms. Douglas opened two brokerage accounts at Citibank's affiliated broker-dealer, Smith Barney, Account No. 62H-07385 and Account No. 168-24253 (later renumbered 232-75087). The 2000 account was apparently never funded; the 2001 account was initially funded with a $500,000 cashier's check and engaged in a number of investments, but did not grow substantially larger and essentially went dormant in September 2006.


Household Account.

On August 8, 2001, Ms. Douglas opened a second personal checking account at Citibank, Checking Account No. 1209003581, which she deemed her "household account."1062 At first, this checking account was linked to a high-yield savings account, IMMA No. 1208951651, which was initially funded with about $50,000, and a Certificate of Deposit No. 1679323897, which was initially funded with about $100,000. By late 2001, however, all the funds in the savings account and certificate of deposit, which then totaled about $300,000, were withdrawn, and the household checking account continued on its own. Over the six years this account was open, Ms. Douglas wrote numerous checks each month to pay a variety of household expenses, relying primarily on deposits from her other accounts for funds and, beginning in 2004, on loans from a home equity account described below. Altogether in a month, Ms. Douglas wrote checks that totaled anywhere from $10,000 to $90,000.1065 This account remained open until all the Douglas-related accounts were closed in 2007.


Home Equity Account.

In April 2004, Ms. Douglas opened a home equity account at Citibank, Equity Source Account No. 7707591587.1067 She used this account to obtain a line of credit from Citibank, secured by her Maryland residence.10fo Her borrowings rose from about $159,000 in April 2004, to more than $350,000 during 2006 and 2007. Ms. Douglas told the Subcommittee she used these funds to support her "household and charitable activities."1069 Ms. Douglas made regular payments on the home equity loan from April 2004 until the account was closed in August 2007, paying a total of about $975,000.1071 Ms. Douglas told the Subcommittee: "All monies used to make the repayments on the line of credit, as well as all monies used to pay her expenses, and to fund her contributions to AUN, GEDE Foundation, and American politicians and political groups, came from her husband."


Gede Foundation Accounts.

In February and March 2002, Ms. Douglas opened three bank accounts in the name of the Gede Foundation Inc., Checking Account No. 17581251, Checking Account No. 17581366, and Savings Account No. 17581278.1073 Six months later, in September 2002, the Foundation also received a Citicard credit card.1074 The account opening documentation shows that Gede Foundation provided a copy of its certificate of incorporation, a W-8 BEN form, and a copy of Ms. Douglas' Maryland driver's license.1075 Ms. Douglas provided "Abubakar" as her married name.1076 Citibank told the Subcommittee that it later revised its policy towards nonprofit organizations to require more enhanced due diligence for organizations providing services outside of the United States.


AUN Accounts.

On April 4, 2005, Ms. Douglas opened Checking Account No. 1209739556, initially under her own name, but later, on an unspecified date, changed the account name to "Jennifer Douglas/ABTI American University."1078 "ABTI American University" refers to AUN by an earlier name. Citibank told the Subcommittee that when Ms. Douglas added the university to the account, it should have been re-categorized as a business account, and that its continuing to operate as a personal account was "inconsistent with [Citibank] practice."


Seven months later, on January 13, 2006, Ms. Douglas opened another personal checking account that was also used by AUN, Checking Account No. 1208993341.1080 This account initially referred solely to Ms. Douglas who was the only signatory.1081 Later, on an unspecified date, she changed the account name to: "Jennifer Douglas/ABTl-American University," which again refers to AUN by an earlier name.1082 On February 27, 2006, Buford George Peterson, AUN's Vice President of Finance and Administration,1083 was added as a co-signatory on the account. In March 2006, the account name was changed a third time, to "Buford George Peterson/ABTI-American University."1085 Citibank told the Subcommittee that, like the first AUN account, "this account remained incorrectly categorized as a personal checking account following the title change."


Additional Personal Accounts.

In 2005, Ms. Douglas opened five more personal accounts, three of which were opened for only a short period. The short-term accounts were Checking Account No. 1209739572, which Ms. Douglas opened on April 5 and closed six months later on Oct. 31, 2005; and a Checking Account No. 1209763257 and savings account bearing the same identifying number, both of which were opened on May 12 and closed four months later in September 2005.1087 These accounts held minimal funds. The two longer term accounts were Checking Account No.1208896250 and Savings Account No. 1208896269, both of which were opened on September 22, 2005, and closed in 2007.1088 The checking account held limited funds which were transferred over the course of six months to the Gede Foundation; the account then went dormant until it was closed. The savings account was opened in the name of Ms. Douglas and one of her sons. At times it had minimal funds, but from mid-2006 to mid-2007, a few large transfers went into and out of the account each month, involving $100,000 to $200,000 at a time.1089


Safe Deposit Boxes.

In addition to her financial accounts at Citibank, in December 2001 and January 2004, Ms. Douglas opened two safe deposit boxes at the bank.


Citi Account Activity.

From 2000 to 2007, Ms. Douglas accepted multiple large wire transfers into her accounts, totaling nearly $20 million, from offshore corporations, including Siemens AG, LetsGo Ltd. Inc., Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria Ltd., Sima Holding Ltd., and China Castle Investments Ltd. Most of the incoming funds were wire transferred into her initial persona] checking account. In 2001 and 2002, for example, Ms. Douglas accepted wire transfers totaling nearly $2.2 million in suspect payments from Siemens AG. On January 30, 2003, she received a single wire transfer for $500,000 from China Castle Investments. Citibank told the Subcommittee that it had no further information about this company and deemed the transfer "questionable."1091 From 2003 to 2007, another $17 million was wire transferred into her account by LetsGo Ltd., the Guernsey Trust Company, and Sima Holdings Ltd. Banking and credit card records show that, over the years, Ms. Douglas spent much of the money she received to support a lavish lifestyle as well as supporting the Gede Foundation and AUN.


Siemens Payments.

As explained earlier, in December 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed criminal and civil pleadings alleging that Siemens AG had violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and engaged in a wide-ranging pattern of paying bribes to foreign officials to advance its interests in several countries.1092 Siemens pled guilty to violating the books and recordkeeping requirements of the FCPA.1093 One provision in the SEC complaint alleged as follows:


"[Approximately $2.8 million of the bribe payments was routed through a bank account in Potomac, Maryland, in the name of the wife of a former Nigerian Vice President. The Vice President's wife, a dual U.S.-Nigerian citizen living in the United States, served as the representative of a business consultant that entered into fictitious business consultant agreements ... but did no actual work for Siemens. The purpose of these payments was to bribe government officials. Other corrupt payments included the purchase of approximately $172,000 in watches for Nigerian officials designated in internal Siemens records as 'P.' and 'V.P.,' likely referring to the President and Vice President of Nigeria."


The Subcommittee contacted Siemens about this allegation and also reviewed the Citibank account records. The Subcommittee identified Citibank records showing three wire transfers from Siemens AG, in 2001 and 2002, that together provided over $1.7 million to Ms. Douglas' personal checking account at Citibank. This chart identifies those wire transfers.


Siemens Wire Transfers to Douglas Account at Citibank: 52096374 Using Citibank Wire Transfer Records


Wire Transfer Directed To Date Amount Bates


J.E. Douglas 4/12/01 $450,703.79 B00007975, B00007962-63, B00007972


J.E. Douglas 10/01/01 $461,440.92 B00007979, B00007965-66


J.E Douglas Steradian Co. UK 1/28/02 $860,500.00 B00007989, B00007968-69, B00007984


SOURCE: Citibank TOTAL: $1,772,644.71


Chart prepared by Subcommittee

When contacted by the Subcommittee, Siemens confirmed the information in the SEC complaint and said that the allegations in the complaint referred to payments made by the company to Ms. Douglas and to wire transfers sent to her checking account at Citibank in Potomac, Maryland.1 95 Siemens told the Subcommittee that it had asked an outside law firm, Debevoise & Plimpton, to conduct an independent investigation into corruption allegations, which included a review of the payments made by Siemens related to Ms. Douglas. Siemens told the Subcommittee that the law firm confirmed not only that Siemens AG had sent wire transfers to Ms. Douglas' account at Citibank, but also that it had sent a wire transfer to her at another bank and made nearly $2 million in additional cash payments to her over a three-year period, from 2000 to 2003. Siemens told the Subcommittee that those wire and cash payments had been made to "J.E. Douglas" or two companies she beneficially owned, "J.E Douglas Steradian Co. UK L," or "Peniel Inc. UK Ltd."


The Subcommittee contacted the SEC for additional information related to its complaint, but the SEC declined to elaborate due to an ongoing investigation into individuals involved in the Siemens misconduct.1096 The Subcommittee also showed the Citibank wire transfers to Ms. Douglas' legal counsel and requested an explanation of the $1.7 million in wire transfers from Siemens to her account. Her legal counsel did not provide an explanation.


Siemens Payment and Gede Foundation. According to Citibank records, one of the Siemens wire transfers for $860,500 was deposited into Ms. Douglas' personal checking account on January 28, 2002. Three days earlier, on January 25, 2002, Ms. Douglas had fomied the Gede Foundation Inc. as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the District of Columbia. uy Foundation articles of incorporation provide it with wide authority to pursue charitable causes.


The Gede Foundation website states: "Gede Foundation is a 501c (3) non-profit, non-governmental organization that works for the benefit of the people of Africa to restore to them the right to a sense of self worth, and a life of hope, health and happiness through programs that educate, promote healthy communities and help eliminate the stigma of illness."


Cynthia J. Ticao, a Phillipines national, is the Foundation's executive director and has been listed as an account signatory on the Gede Foundation accounts at Citibank.11 °


On February 1, 2002, four days after receiving the $860,500 from Siemens, Ms. Douglas transferred $250,000 to a newly opened Gede Foundation account at Chevy Chase Bank, as described below. She also opened a Gede Foundation account at Citibank.


LetsGo, Guernsey Trust Company, and Sima Holding Payments. Over a four-year period from 2003 to 2007, Ms. Douglas also accepted nearly $17 million in wire transfers from LetsGo, Guernsey Trust Company, and Sima Holdings into her Citibank accounts. As explained earlier, the Guernsey Trust Company is a Nigerian shell corporation that manages the Abubakar Blind Trust, while LetsGo and Sima Holdings are offshore corporations beneficially owned by Mr. Volpi and his relatives.


Most of these funds, about $10.4 million, were deposited into Ms. Douglas' initial personal checking account by LetsGo and the Guernsey Trust Company. These wire transfers, which arrived every month or two, provided large sums varying from $50,000 to $450,000 per payment.


Another $5.5 million in wire transfers from LetsGo were deposited into the first Douglas/AUN checking account at Citibank. AUN first opened its doors to students in September 2005; these wire transfers began in mid-2005 and continued for the next two years, providing the account with a large sum every montli or two, beginning with $100,000 and eventually increasing to $300,000 per payment. This chart identifies those wire transfers.


Wire Transfers from LetsGo Ltd. to Douglas/AUN Account at Citibank: 1209739556


From LetsGo Account at Wegelin & Co.

Date Amount Bates

05/09/05 $100,000.00 B 00006533


06/07/05 $100,000.00 B 00006529


09/07/05 $150,000.00 B 00006520


10/06/05 $150,000.00 B 00006515


11/14/05 $150,000.00 B 00006510


198

01/11/06 $150,000.00 B 00006499


02/21/06 $150,000.00 B00006496


03/07/06 $200,000.00 B 00006491


04/03/06 $200,000.00 B 00000959


05/04/06 $300,000.00 B 00000954


06/01/06 $300,000.00 B 00006481


07/10/06 $300,000.00 B 00000953


08/08/06 $300,000.00 B 00000967


09/05/06 $300,000.00 B 00000964


10/05/06 $300,000.00 B 00000955


11/03/06 $300,000.00 B 00000977


12/06/06 $300,000.00 B 00000974


12/29/06 $300,000.00 B 00000976


01/31/07 $300,000.00 B 00000972


03/05/07 $300,000.00 B 00000960


04/03/07 $300,000.00 B 00000970


05/03/07 $300,000.00 B 00000963


05/31/07 $300,000.00 B 00000969


SOURCE: Citibank TOTAL: $5,550,000.00 1


Chart prepared by Subcommittee

In addition, from 2004 to 2005, Sima Holdings sent four wire transfers totaling nearly $700,000 to Ms. Douglas. Most of these funds were deposited into her personal checking account, but also, on one occasion, provided funds to the Douglas/AUN account. This chart identifies those wire transfers.


Wire Transfers from Sima Holding Ltd. to Douglas and Douglas/AUN Accounts at Citibank


Citibank Account No. Date Amount Bates


52096374 (Douglas) 06/08/04 $249,965.00 B00007152


52096374 (Douglas) 06/08/05 $100,000.00 B 00007213


52096374 (Douglas) 08/11/05 $200,000.00 B00007223


1209739556 (Douglas/AUN) 08/11/05 $150,000.00 B 00006525


SOURCE: Citibank TOTAL: $699,965.00

Chart prepared by Subcommittee

In addition to the wire transfers from these five offshore corporations, Ms. Douglas received several large wire transfers in 2003, totaling nearly $500,000, from unidentified persons, This chart identifies those wire transfers.


Wire Transfers from Unidentified Originators to Douglas Account at Citibank: 52096374


Originator of Wire Date Amount Bates


, "A"Client" 02/06/03 $184, 970 B 00007064


"A Client" 02/14/03 $159,970 B 00007065


"A Client" 02/21/03 $154,970 B 00007065


SOURCE: Citibank TOTAL: $499,610

Chart prepared by Subcommittee

Ms. Douglas used much of the offshore funds sent to her personal checking account to pay personal bills and expenses, including roughly $50,000 per month in credit card bills, and $20,000 to $30,000 per month to the Weidenfeld law firm and her accountants, Penn, Schoen, Beiiand Associates. In early 2002, she also transferred funds to the Gede Foundation accounts at Citibank and Chevy Chase Bank. In addition, over five years, from the university's inception to the closing of her Citibank accounts, Ms. Douglas transferred a total of about $763,000 to various American University and AUN accounts.


The following charts show the $763,000 that Ms. Douglas transferred on behalf of AUN, including about $330,000 that Ms. Douglas transferred from her Citibank personal checking account to an American University account at Chevy Chase Bank, and another $47,000 from her personal checking account to an AUN account at Guaranty Trust Bank in Nigeria. In addition, she transferred about $384,000 from the second Douglas/AUN account at Citibank to the AUN account at Guaranty Trust Bank in Nigeria.


Transfers from Douglas Personal Checking Account at Citibank: 52096374 to AUN Accounts


To AU account at Chevy Chase Bank To AUN account at Guaranty Trust Bank


Date Amount Bates Date Amount Bates


04/21/03 $100,000.00 B00007078 1 08/07/06 $12,400.00 B 00007295


04/28/03 $100,000.00 B00000906 1 08/07/06 $12,030.00 B 00007295


08/05/03 $100,000.00 B00000858 1 08/07/06 $8,730.00 B 00007295


09/13/05 $1,045.00 B00007229 1 01/17/07 $1,750.00 B 00007329


02/08/06 $2,000.00 B00007257 1 05/03/07 $2,250.00 B 00007357


10/31/06 $221,36 B00007309 I 05/03/07 $10,520.00 B 00007357


01/22/07 $2,186.00 B00007329 | SOURCE: CITIBANK TOTAL: $47,680.00


05/04/07 $26,000.00 B00007357 |


Source: Citibank TOTAL:$331,452.36


Chart prepared by Subcommittee

Wire Transfers from Douglas/AUN account at Citibank: 1208993341 to AUN account at Guaranty Trust Bank


Date Amount Bates

04/03/06 $16,599.24 B 00006612


05/01/06 $6,244.43 B 00006607


06/01/06 $7,196.65 B 00006602


07/31/06 $5,853.62 B 00006598


10/31/06 $21,162.03 B 00006585


12/04/06 $1,000.00 B 00006574


12/28/06 $44,716.77 B00006576


02/01/07 $45,957.00 B 00006565


03/13/07 $36,100.00 B 00006559


03/29/07 $54,435.64 B 00006561


04/30/07 $50,000.00 B 00000900


06/04/07 $2,030.82 B 00006543


06/04/07 $92,798.70 B 00000898


SOURCE: Citibank TOTAL: $384,094.90

Chart prepared by Subcommittee

Account Concerns. Citigroup told the Subcommittee that it was aware of the offshore wire transfers going into the Douglas accounts and, at various points during the seven years the Douglas-related accounts were open, investigated specific transactions before deciding to close all the accounts in 2007.u02


One such account review took place in 2003, when LetsGo and China Castle Investments sent multiple wire transfers to Ms. Douglas' personal checking account totaling nearly $1.7 million. Citibank told the Subcommittee that it had deemed these transactions "questionable."1103


At one point, Ms. Douglas provided an explanation of the source of the funds in her accounts in a letter that was retained in her Citibank account files.1104 In the letter dated November 21, 2003, addressed "To Whom It May Concern," Ms. Douglas wrote:


"I am stating exactly how I get my income. From Gede, I accept a minimal income of 1076.23, with an agreed yearly bonus of $50,0000.00, [sic] paid in [a] lump [sum] yearly after every fundraising. I receive a yearly maintenance income from spouse of $500,000.00. Monthly dividends and interest from account excluding the Neuberger Berman account is $1,657.50. I also have an investment trust fund with Neuberger Berman with a standing balance of 5 million dollars plus."1105


She also wrote that her home was valued at $3 million, with no outstanding mortgage. l The Douglas letter did not provide any information, however, about the offshore corporations sending funds to her accounts or explain the source of the funds provided by her husband.


Three years later, in 2006, Citibank raised additional questions about the Douglas/AUN accounts. Citigroup told the Subcommittee that routine account monitoring had detected what appeared to be business activity in what was supposed to be Ms. Douglas' personal checking account, including wire transfers involving LetsGo and the Guernsey Trust Company. Citigroup told the Subcommittee: "usiness activity in a personal account raises questions because it is inconsistent with the information the customer provided the bank at the time of account opening."


Citibank told the Subcommittee that it spoke with Ms. Douglas concerning the Douglas/AUN accounts and told her that she needed to open business accounts in order to continue conducting transactions involving AUN.1109 Citibank said Ms. Douglas "responded that she had tried to open a business account but was unable to do so because she lacked the proper documentation."'uo


According to Citibank, in early 2007, it learned for the first time that Ms. Douglas was married to a foreign official.1111 Mr. Abubakar was then finishing his second term as Vice President of Nigeria. On April 2, 2007, Ms. Douglas wrote to two AUN and AU officials that "Citibank wrote to me requesting that 1 close the ABTI [AUN] account because it is a business account being run from an individual account. They requested the account be closed by April 17, but 1 am trying to get an extension to enable us [to] look elsewhere to open an account."


On April 9, 2007, a Citibank compliance officer wrote to the Citibank branch manager about the Douglas/AUN accounts as follows:


"

lease find out from customer what type of company/business is 'Letsgo Limited Inc' located in Panama and which has accounts with a bank in Switzerland. Also, what type of company is Guernsey Trust Company Nigeria. These two companies sent multiple large ($300,000-) wire transfers to our customer's account. We would like to thoroughly understand in what activities the customer is involved before we extend the close out and establish a new business account."


The Citibank branch manager replied:

"I have spoken to Ms. Douglas and she has informed me that Letsgo Limited and Guernsey Trust are both oil services companies. Since her husband is the owner of both companies, and is a very public figure, the trust accounts run those businesses for him. In turn, the funds from both companies are used to pay the salaries for the teachers in the ABTI-American University account. Funds from those businesses] also go into her personal accounts as well. She has expressed a desire for her personal account to remain open, and has said,she will move the ABTI-American University account elsewhere."


This Citibank email states that Ms. Douglas told the bank that LetsGo and Guernsey Trust Company were both owned by her husband. But LetsGo is beneficially owned by Mr. Volpi and his relatives, not by Mr, Abubakar. The Guernsey Trust Co. manages the Abubakar Blind Trust, and the Subcommittee has been told that Mr. Abubakar was not and is not an owner of the company, although he is a beneficiary of the trust it manages.


In 2007, Citigroup decided to close not only the AUN accounts, but all of the accounts related to Ms. Douglas. It told the Subcommittee:


"Because the business activity in her personal account continued after that discussion [in 2006], and because in early 2007, CB was aware of Ms. Douglas's status as the wife of the Vice President of Nigeria, as well as certain allegations surrounding Ms. Douglas and her husband, CB Compliance instructed the branch to close Ms. Douglas's accounts."


In an undated internal document, Citibank expressed the following concerns with Ms. Douglas's accounts: "Wires that originate from businesses where relationships with the customer cannot be established, followed by transfers of the funds between accounts that ultimately end in the funds being sent to various individuals and businesses appears suspicious."In addition, an internal email dated August 10, 2007, from a Citibank fraud investigator stated:


"Suspicious activity with advances from employer directly to Citibank accounts (to pay out bonus income). Still need to prpbe into documents received to review the 500k received yearly maintenance income from spouse. At this time have not been able to locate the documentation to verify the spousal maintenance. Highly suspect that someone claiming 30k in income to the IRS could obtain a 2.7 million dollar home with no mortgages. Lifestyle of the borrower is not reflected on the tax returns."1 17


Edward Weidenfeld, Ms. Douglas' legal counsel, told the Subcommittee that, in the spring of 2007, he learned that the Citibank AUN accounts would be closed. He told the Subcommittee that he also learned at that time "that salaries of expatriate faculty and staff were paid by wire transfer" from the Douglas/AUN Citibank accounts, and "without this or a similar account, the ability of AUN to retain and recruit non-Nigerian staff would be severely limited."


He said that on behalf of the Abubakars and AUN, he "engaged in intensive discussions urging AU to provide this payment facility for expatriate staff and faculty," but "American University's financial office would not open such an account because AU wanted to maintain the separate identities of each institution."


Citibank told the Subcommittee that it ultimately gave Ms. Douglas additional time before closing the Douglas/AUN accounts, because Ms. Douglas was out of the country, and granting an extension would permit all account closings to occur at the same time. Citibank closed her checking and savings accounts by the end of June, and closed all remaining accounts by the end of August 2007.


A year after opening accounts at Citibank, Ms. Douglas also opened one account at Chevy Chase Bank in Potomac, Maryland, and three accounts at Chevy Chase Trust Company, then a subsidiary of Chevy Chase Bank. These accounts were active for about seven years, from 2001 to 2008. Three of the accounts were opened in July 2001, as investment accounts for the Jennifer Douglas Abubakar (JDA) Family Trust. The account at the bank was opened six months later, in February 2002, for the Gede Foundation which had been formed the prior week. Chevy Chase Bank told the Subcommittee that it did not realize for five years that the two sets of accounts were related, since the JDA Family Trust accounts listed "Jennifer Douglas-Abubakar" as the trust beneficiary, while the Gede Foundation listed "Jennifer Douglas" as one of two account signatories. In addition, Chevy Chase Bank opened all of these accounts without being aware of Ms. Douglas' PEP status.1121 In 2004, after Chevy Chase Bank determined that Ms. Douglas qualified as a PEP client, it increased its monitoring of the JDA Family Trust account, but not the Gede Foundation account. It took another three years, until 2007, for the bank to realize that the Gede Foundation account was linked to the same Ms. Douglas.


None of the Chevy Chase accounts associated with Ms. Douglas received large wire transfers from offshore corporations as happened at other banks. The JDA Family Trust Account, for example, did not receive any new funds; it simply invested $5 million in pre-existing trust proceeds. While the Gede Foundation did receive new funds, they came primarily from the Gede Foundation account at Citibank, and Chevy Chase Bank had no reason to know the Citibank Gede account was receiving funds that came from offshore corporations and the suspect Siemens payments.


In 2006, after hearing Ms. Douglas and her husband Mr. Abubakar mentioned in connection with the investigation of U.S. Congressman Jefferson, Chevy Chase Bank grew concerned about the source of funds in the JDA Family Trust account and decided to resign as trustee. Chevy Chase Trust Company told Ms. Douglas that it intended to close the account, but was persuaded by her and her lawyer to continue to hold the trust funds as a custodian until a new trustee was found -. a process that took two years until 2008. In 2007, Chevy Chase Bank learned as a result of a Subcommittee inquiry, that Ms. Douglas also controlled the Gede Foundation account. The bank and the trust company closed all four Douglas-related accounts in 2008.


JDA Family Trust Accounts. According to a copy of the trust instrument in Chevy Chase Bank records, the JDA Family Trust was established in October 2000, by the Merrill Lynch Trust Company which served as the sole trustee and investment manager. " The purpose of the trust was "to make gifts to Jennifer Douglas-Abubakar and her family, to promote the well being of those persons, to preserve and enhance their financial assets, and to offer a framework for family governance."1123 Chevy Chase described the Trust internally as "designed to permanently move funds to a trust for the benefit of Ms. Douglas-Abubakar and her children" and to provide "a nest egg to protect Jennifer Douglas-Abubakar and her children from negative life events concerning Mr. Abubakar."1124 According to Ms. Douglas, her husband provided the initial funding for the trust as a gift to her, and she used that money to fund the trust.


Ms. Douglas served as the Trust grantor, "protector," and one of its beneficiaries.1126 The other beneficiaries were her children. In her role as Trust Protector, Ms. Douglas was given authority to remove or replace the trustee. The trustee was given discretion to invest the trust funds and make trust distributions.1128 After Merrill Lynch apparently invested the trust funds aggressively and reduced the trust principal from $6 million to $5 million over six months, Ms. Douglas decided to find a new trustee, and to split the trustee and investment management functions.1129 On July 20, 2001, she removed Merrill Lynch and appointed Chevy Chase Trust Company as the replacement trustee.1130 Ms. Douglas had intended to appoint her brother, Francis Iwenjiora as a co-trustee along with Chevy Chase Trust Company, but he was apparently out of town, and was added as a co-trustee a year later on July 31, 2002. She also selected the Neuberger Berman Trust Company, which is associated with the Lehman Brothers, as the investment manager.'' 2


On July 25, 2001, the JDA Family Trust opened three investment accounts at Chevy Chase Trust Company: Fixed Income Account No. CH200121; Value Equity Account No. CH200122; and Blend Equity Account No. CH200123. During the time the trust accounts were at Chevy Chase, no new funds were added; the bank simply accepted the trust funds transferred from Merrill Lynch and allowed the Neuberger Berman Trust Company to determine the specific investments.


Gede Foundation Account. About six months later, on February 1, 2002, Ms. Douglas opened a commercial checking account at Chevy Chase Bank for the Gede Foundation, Checking Account No. 196430326-5.n?i The Gede Foundation had been formed the prior week under the laws of the District of Columbia. The account opening documentation listed two account signatories: Cynthia Ticao, the Gede Foundation executive director, and "Jennifer Douglas," the Gede Foundation president.*13