The Los Angeles Times has reported that Kola Aluko, a controversial
\nNigerian oil tycoon, has sold his Bel-Air, Los Angeles mansion, as
\nNigerian and European authorities investigate him for a series of
\nmoney-laundering and fraud-related crimes.<\/p>\n
Kola Aluko sold the home last week for $21.5 million, taking a $3 million
\nloss after purchasing the sprawling residence in 2012 for $24.5 million.<\/p>\n
Aluko, 46, apparently sold the residence in an off-market transaction
\nusing a limited-liability company. An off-market sale in real estate
\nrefers to a property that is sold without any form of public advertising.<\/p>\n
Aluko\u2019s former home- a contemporary-style showplace in the 700 block of
\nSarbonne Road, Los Angeles, was designed by architect Paul McClean and
\nbuilt in 2011.<\/p>\n
The property sits on more than an acre, has a gated entrance, a
\nsubterranean garage and a 132-square-foot infinity-edge swimming pool
\namong other features.<\/p>\n
For a long time, Aluko had been linked as a business associate of
\nNigeria\u2019s former Petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is also
\ncurrently under investigation by Nigerian and British authorities for
\nmoney laundering and embezzlement.<\/p>\n
Shortly after she became oil minister in 2010, Alison-Madueke awarded
\nAtlantic Energy- an unknown start-up co-founded by Aluko, a very lucrative
\ncontract to fund NNPC\u2019s (the state oil company) operational costs in four
\nlucrative oil blocks in which the NNPC owned a stake.<\/p>\n
In return for providing funding to the NNPC, Atlantic Energy was to lift
\nthe crude produced from the oil blocks, sell it, and thereafter pay the
\nstate-owned oil firm its share of profits.<\/p>\n
But there is an allegation and considerable proof that Atlantic Energy did
\nnot make any upfront funding but lifted crude and that a huge chunk of the
\nproceeds from the sale of the crude oil did not make it to NNPC\u2019s coffers
\nand, by extension, the Nigerian treasury.<\/p>\n
An email to Kola Aluko to confirm the sale of his Bel-Air property was not
\nresponded to as at the time of this post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Los Angeles Times has reported that Kola Aluko, a controversial Nigerian oil tycoon, has sold his Bel-Air, Los Angeles mansion, as Nigerian and European authorities investigate him for a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49265,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n