Diezani’s Billionaire Ally, Kola Aluko Owes New York City $25,000 Property Tax
MICHAEL AKINOLA
Former Oil minister Diezani Allison-Madueke’s ally Kola Aluko is said to be owing the City of New York some overdue property tax amounting to $25,000.
A report by The New York Post said the fugitive Nigerian oil mogul, wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) owes the tax over his 79th floor penthouse at One57 in Manhattan which he bought for $51 million in 2014.
The penthouse has four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, 6,240 square feet, sweeping views of Central Park. Now the property has a past-due bill of $25,000.
And that is even with the benefit of a 421a partial tax exemption that knocked down what would have been a annual tax bill of $250,000 to $50,000, the Post reported.
But Aluko has bigger problem in Nigeria and Europe.
The 47-year-old tycoon is under investigation for alleged money-laundering crimes.
A Nigerian court tried to freeze his assets, including his One57 unit, as part of the alleged scheme to defraud the government of oil sale profits.
Meanwhile, as of last year, the court could not find Aluko to serve him with papers.
New York Post said he may be floating around the world on his 213-foot yacht, the Galactica Star.
In 2015, the ship was sailing around the Mediterranean. It was spotted in Cancun last year, and may now be berthed in Turkey.
The immovability of real estate is one reason Gary Barnett of Extell Development is not too concerned about delinquent real estate taxes or overdue maintenance fees.
“It’s not uncommon in a condo building, but eventually, everybody pays,” he said. That’s because upon any sale, the condo board’s liens should theoretically be paid off,” he said.
Barnett said authorities investigating fraudulent purchases are delighted when the money is used to buy real estate and not art or yachts that can float away.
“All this stuff that’s transportable, like art that you can put on a plane and sell anywhere, is what law enforcement doesn’t want [them to buy]. The yacht’s movable, but he can’t move his condo,” Barnett explained.
Aluko with Naomi Campbell
Aluko has never made any secret of his life as an international jet setter.
With his luxury yacht, Swiss chateau and network of celebrity friends, Aluko is a regular face in the gossip columns of many newspapers in Nigeria.
As well as villas in Switzerland and Beverley Hills, he is also a passionate motor racer and used to sit on the advisory board of a firm that rented out private jets.
Aluko plays as hard as he works, socialising with the likes of Naomi Campbell and Leonardo DiCaprio, and renting out his £35m luxury yacht to stars like Beyonce and Jay-Z.
Aluko’s the Galactica Star yacht
Some reports claimed sighting him in Paris with the supermodel Naomi Campbell, and in 2013 he was reported to have spent more than $1 million on champagne at Leonardo DiCaprio’s 39th birthday party.
He was also one of the co-founders of Made in Africa, a foundation set up in London with the Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng to promote infrastructure projects in Africa, and has his own philanthropic venture, the Kola Aluko Foundation, that operates from offices in London’s Mayfair.
The aim, according to its website, is “Engaging and nurturing the next generation of young African leaders”.
Tailored for success.: Ozwald Boateng, left, and Kola Aluko at a banking award ceremony in Morocco in 2013
Aluko has not been arrested, and did not respond to approaches from The Telegraph to clarify whether he was being treated as a suspect in the inquiry, or merely a witness who was caught up in it.
Critics of President Muhammadu Buhari have claimed that the probe is being used to mount a witch-hunt against his political opponents.
Late 2015, however, Aluko did appear to confirm that he was under investigation, telling a newspaper: “I’m willing to co-operate with anybody. I have nothing to hide.”
He also reportedly admitted paying the rent on a flat in St John’s Wood for Mrs Alison-Madueke’s mother, but described it as simply a favour to a friend.
The National Crime Agency declined to comment on the progress of its inquiries, but a senior Nigerian government source told The Telegraph that Aluko was “under investigation for allegedly fronting for the former oil Minister, Diezani.”
A Swiss government spokesman added: “At the end of September 2015 the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) received a request for legal assistance of the Crown Prosecution Service (in Britain) concerning Kola Aluko. The FOJ has forwarded the request to the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) for execution.”
Now, though, the man once named by Forbes Africa as one of the continent’s top entrepreneurs is in the spotlight for a different reason, as the EFCC investigates allegations that up to $20 billion has gone missing from state oil revenues.
Yet while the missing oil money inquiry is Nigeria’s highest-profile corruption case, it may just be the tip of the iceberg.
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