NYESOM Ezenwo Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has been embroiled in a controversy over his family’s ownership of properties in Florida, USA.
Recent discoveries reveal that Wike’s wife, Eberechi Suzzette Nyesom-Wike, a Court of Appeal judge, and their children have been linked to four properties in Florida, with three of them being transferred into the children’s names using Quit Claim Deeds in 2023.
The Quit Claim Deed Scam
A Quit Claim Deed is a simple property transfer document that allows one person to sign over their ownership interest in a property to another.
While it’s commonly used for routine family transactions, kleptocrats exploit this loophole to launder stolen wealth.
By transferring properties into the names of relatives, they conceal the true ownership and origin of illicit funds.
This appears to be the case with Wike’s family, where properties purchased with potentially corrupt funds were quietly moved into the names of his wife and children.
Allegations of Money Laundering
Under U.S. law, such transactions amount to money laundering and trafficking in stolen property, serious crimes punishable under state and federal statutes.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative could seize and forfeit these assets if evidence of corruption is established.
Wike’s Florida properties may serve as key evidence in unraveling his alleged kleptocracy and reclaiming stolen assets from Nigeria.
Wike’s Denials and Health Rumors
When questioned about his family’s properties, Wike claimed ignorance, but this has been disputed by evidence of Quit Claim Deeds and property records. Additionally, rumors surrounding Wike’s health have sparked controversy, with some sources suggesting he was hospitalized in the UK for congestive heart failure.
