Oil tycoon's One57 pad returns for $39M after foreclosure attempts stall

Nigerian mogul Kola Aluko's 79th-floor apartment is back

The full-floor One57 penthouse owned by Nigerian oil tycoon Kola Aluko—who, you'll recall, is being investigated for his alleged involvement in money laundering schemes—dodged foreclosure over the summer. Now, the 79th-floor condo is back on the market for a deep discount: after initially listing for $57.5 million back in 2015, the troubled pad is now is now asking $39 million, reports the New York Post.

Aluko purchased the apartment in 2015 for $50.9 million, but he's since defaulted on $35.3 million mortgage from a Luxembourg-based bank. Foreclosure proceedings had begun earlier this year, and if a forced sale had been successful, it could have become the largest in the city's history. But new creditor surfaced in July 2017 and kept the from the auction block.

The listing brokerbabble neatly sidesteps all of that, noting that the 6,240-square-foot apartment has a "motivated seller" and touting the fact that it's the last full-floor home available in One57. It has four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, and panoramic views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline. Ali Jafri of Compass is the broker on the property for this go-round.

Aluko is currently under investigation in both Nigeria and Europe for alleged money laundering, and the U.S. Department of Justice is planning to seize the oil tycoon's U.S. property that was purchased with funds from crooked transactions. Aluko reportedly hasn't been since in months and is believed to be hiding out on one of his yachts.

• Listing: 157 West 57th Street #79 [Compass]
• On-the-run billionaire's posh pad up for sale — for a 'great value' [New York Post]
• One57's record-breaking foreclosure put on hold [Curbed]
• Oil tycoon's $51M One57 penthouse named in money laundering investigation [Curbed]