Gambia’s Exiled Ex-Ruler Lost His Maryland Mansion. His Victims’ Fund Got About $2.5M

A large house on Bentcross Drive in Potomac, Maryland, is now a fund for people who say they suffered under The Gambia’s former president. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, The Gambia Reparations Commission said it had received about $2.5 million from the sale of the mansion, which US authorities had taken from Yahya Jammeh.²⁵

The money can be used for only one thing: reparations, meaning compensation for victims of abuses during Jammeh’s rule. So far it has been received into the fund. Payments to victims have not yet been announced.⁵

“The funds were deposited directly into the Reparations Fund account at the Central Bank of Gambia and shall only be utilized for the payment of reparations by the commission,” the commission said in its statement, as reported by AP.⁵

Sources report slightly different totals. The US Department of Justice described the transfer as net proceeds of roughly $2.5 million, and AP reported a somewhat higher figure from the commission.¹³

How a Maryland house ended up in a Gambian fund

Court documents say the 8,818-square-foot mansion was bought in 2010 for about $3.5 million through the MYJ Family Trust, which was set up by Jammeh’s wife, Zineb Jammeh.⁴

The Justice Department says the couple bought the house for personal use with criminal proceeds and misappropriated Gambian public funds. Its civil forfeiture complaint alleges that Jammeh collected millions of dollars through embezzlement and by asking for bribes from businesses that wanted monopoly rights. The complaint also alleges that he laundered the money through shell companies and overseas trusts.¹ Those allegations come from the civil case. Jammeh has not been convicted in a US court.

Through that civil case in the District of Maryland, the government took ownership of the property and sold it. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations’ Illicit Proceeds and Foreign Corruption Group in Miami, with help from its offices in Baltimore and Dakar.¹

The United States and The Gambia signed the agreement to return the money on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. It requires the funds to go into the Reparations Fund at the Central Bank of The Gambia, where the commission manages them independently.⁴ The Gambia must use the money to compensate eligible victims as defined in its Victims Reparations Act of 2023.¹

“Returning these funds forfeited from the former leader to compensate his victims demonstrates our commitment to recover funds taken in violation of the rule of law and to return them for the benefit of victims in a lawful process,” said A. Tysen Duva, Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Criminal Division, in the department’s announcement.¹

Who the money is for

Jammeh ruled The Gambia for 22 years. Victims and rights groups say his government carried out arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and summary executions. He was forced out in 2017 after rejecting the results of the 2016 election.⁵ He now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea.⁶

The Reparations Commission was created in 2023 to compensate people who suffered abuse under Jammeh.⁵ Sirra Ndow, director of the Alliance of Victim-Led Organizations, called the transfer “an important step toward reparations for victims and survivors,” according to AP.⁵

Transparency International and Gambia Participates also welcomed the return, with some requests attached. They urged transparent, people-centered management of the money, careful records of who receives it, and public reports on what it accomplishes.⁷