The US $1million mansion squared by a former Zamfara Gov Abdulaziz Yari, is about to be confiscated by a US court.
News Express 24 was reliably told that the 2.1-acre property which is located at 14800 Bowie Farm Court, Bowie Maryland (Zip code: MD 20721) with six full and two half bathrooms with a jacuzzi in the master bedroom, is considered for confiscation following a case brought before it by the Nigerian government seeking for the source of the funds with which he bought the house.
The house which was purchased during just two years of Yari's administration at the cost of a princely sum of $950,000 was in violation of the Nigerian constitution and the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari who vowed to deal decisively with anybody found to be corrupt during and after office, will be brought to book.
Deed documents obtained from the Circuit Court of Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA, denote Mr. Yari as the sole owner of the property, which was purchased from a limited liability company, K Hovanian Hamptons, located at Creek 11, Delaware.
The company used to be known as Real Property Holding, with an address at Prince George’s County, before changing its name on 25 January 2011.
The deed on the property is dated August 27, 2012, while the approval of the purchase was granted on 1 November 2012 after Yari paid the princely sum of $950,000 cash without mortgage on the property.
Equally captured on the deed document is the sum of $5,225, which was described as “recordation of tax paid” and $13,300, described as “transfer tax paid”, both offering indications that Mr. Yari operated a foreign account in clear breach of Code 3 of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Investigation further revealed the real estate property tax information obtained from Prince George’s County showing that Governor Yari paid taxes on the property up till 2017 and the estate tax paid then was $16, 583.10.
Investigation also showed that Mr. Yari bought the property after his fraudulently awarded N25billion in road contracts in Zamfara in 2012.
According to the Nigerian law of code of conduct expressly prohibits certain public officials from operating bank accounts in any country outside Nigeria.
These include the President, Vice President, governor, deputy governor, ministers, commissioners, members of the National Assembly and the Houses of Assembly of the States.
According to the deed document, Mr. Yari signed the agreement in person, with Kimberley Armstead a notary public of Montgomery County State of Maryland, serving as a witness.
Ot may be recalled that Mr. Yari, a former Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, was building a 100-room hotel in Lekki, Lagos, with the $3million he stole from the Paris Club loan refund to states.
Aside from the $3million, Mr. Yari was also found to have diverted the sum of N500million from the Paris Club refund to pay off a loan. He was said to have withdrawn N500million from the N19billion Paris Club refund illegally paid into the account of Nigerian Governors’ Forum as payment to “consultants”.
He deposited the stolen sum into a bank account with a mortgage bank from which he had taken an N800million loan to buy properties in 2013.
