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Nigerian mogul’s One57 apartment connected to money-laundering probe
A Nigerian court has attempted to freeze Kola Aluko's assets, including his $51M penthouse
Nigerian energy mogul Kola Aluko is $25,000 past due on the property tax bill for his apartment on the 79th floor of One57. But that’s the least of his problems. A Nigerian court recently attempted to freeze Aluko’s assets — including his $51 million apartment at One57 — as part of a money laundering probe.
Aluko bought the 6,240-square-foot apartment in 2014 — shortly after he picked up a unit at 1049 Fifth Avenue for $8.62 million. But now, the African mogul is under investigation in Nigeria and in Europe for alleged money-laundering crimes, according to the New York Post.
However, the investigation has faced the unusual hurdle of being unable to locate Aluko to serve him with papers. Sources told the Post that he is possibly hiding out on his 213-foot yacht, the Galactica Star, possibly in Turkey.
But if his apartment was used in any way to launder funds, One57 developer Gary Barnett isn’t worried.
“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,” Gary Barnett, who developed One57, explained. [NYP] —Christopher Cameron