The court’s ruling on 6 June stemmed from a 2015 transaction where Mrs. Katung paid £400,000 in two tranches to purchase the property for £1,000,000.
The UK High Court of Justice has ordered the forfeiture of a Leeds property occupied by Lord Mayor Abigail Katung, wife of Nigerian Senator Sunday Katung, following allegations of money laundering tied to a £400,000 deposit made in 2015. The National Crime Agency (NCA) will take possession of the property, previously owned by businessman Mansoor Hussain, accused of laundering money for crime lords.
The court’s ruling on 6 June stemmed from a 2015 transaction where Mrs. Katung paid £400,000 in two tranches to purchase the property for £1,000,000. Court filings revealed concerns over the source of £360,000, transferred from Nigeria shortly after her husband’s election to the House of Representatives. Mrs. Katung claimed the funds, partly from a N120 million loan, were exchanged via Bureau de Change operators and routed through her company, 1st Resource, to a Barclays account.The judge criticized Mrs. Katung’s lack of documentation and failure to provide a witness statement from her husband, stating, “These are telling omissions from which I draw an adverse inference.”
Investigations found no record of My Honey Oil Interbiz Ltd, a claimed licensed Bureau de Change, on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2021 list. The court concluded Mrs. Katung used her company to “circumvent Nigerian foreign exchange regulations.”Justice Jay ruled the property “recoverable” under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, with no credit given for Mrs. Katung’s deposit. While shielded from knowledge of Hussain’s criminal activities, Mrs. Katung was ordered to provide a documented defense but “failed to do that,” the judge noted.