Diezani’s Ally, Kola Aluko, Hiding Out on His Yacht to Evade Arrest

Nigeria-born oil tycoon, Kola Aluko, has reportedly been hiding out in his yacht to evade possible arrest by the federal government and European authorities.

Aluko, 47, who also has interests in African infrastructure development and aviation, is being investigated by Nigerian and European authorities for a series of money-laundering and fraud-related crimes.

He was accused of laundering money for a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

Aluko was last seen in Hong Kong, in May, on his 213-foot yacht, Galactica Star, which he rented to Jay-Z and Beyoncé Knowles Carter for $900,000 a week in 2015, and is currently in the Bahamas.

He was reportedly spotted at Ja Rule’s Fyre Festival in late April on the yacht.

Aluko has a string of celebrity friends, including the Carters, Naomi Campbell, Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio.

According to reports, Aluko has not been seen on dry land since the arrest of Madueke, on October 2, 2016.

He made headlines, on Tuesday, after his Billionaires’ Row penthouse at One57, which overlooks Central Park and the Hudson River, was announced as foreclosed.

According to records obtained by Bloomberg, Apartment 79 was sold to Aluko in December 2014, for $50.9 million, making it the eighth most expensive unit in the building.

But just a year later, the bank took hold of the 6,420-square-foot apartment, after the mortgage loan was not paid back and plans to sell it next month for $21.4million.

The development reportedly set a New York City’s foreclosure record.

One57, formerly known as Carnegie 57 and nicknamed: “The Billionaire Building”, is a 75-story supertall skyscraper at 157 West 57th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in the Midtown neighborhood of New York City, which started construction in January 2010.

Aluko founded Fossil Resources, an oil trading company; was CEO of Exoro Energy prior to its merger with Seven Energy, a leading independent oil exploration company and is now deputy CEO and a large shareholder of Seven Energy and co-CEO of Atlantic Energy. He is also a member of the advisory board of VistaJet, a private jet charter company.

A federal high court, in Lagos, had tried to freeze Aluko’s assets, including the One57 penthouse, in the beginning of the investigations into his alleged involvement with Madueke.

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