Nigerians in London, UK: Ex Nigerian Governor, Ibori gets 13 years and see all his houses

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Ex Nigerian Governor, Ibori gets 13 years and see all his houses

Convicted: James Ibori

Ibori arrest in Dubai

Former governor of Delta State, James Ibori was sentenced Tuesday by the Southwark Crown Court in London after pleading guilty to 10 charges of fraud and money laundering. On February 27, Ibori entered into a plea bargain in the hope of receiving a lighter sentence.

In the 1990s while working as a cashier in a branch of the DIY chain Wickes, in Ruislip, northwest London, Ibori was arrested for shop lifting and credit card fraud. Soon after, he moved to Nigeria and worked his way up through the political ranks to become a state governor between 1999 and 2007.

After becoming governor of the oil-rich Delta State, Ibori was soon racking up credit card bills of $200,000 (£126,000) per month on a luxury lifestyle, including running a fleet of armoured Range Rovers. He also bought a £2.2m house in north London and another £1.2m house in South Africa. He was trying to buy a plane for £12m at the time he was arrested.

Ibori admitted one count of conspiracy to launder money, five of money laundering and one of obtaining a property transfer by deception and one over the theft of more than £25m while he was governor of the region.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to make false instruments, and one count of money laundering linked to a $37m (£23.3m) share fraud surrounding the sale of shares in Nigerian company V Mobile and oil bunkering.

But speaking outside the court, former footballer John Fashanu spoke up in Ibori's defence.

"I found James Ibori a very humble person, a very giving person. Somebody who has revolutionised sport in Delta state," said Fashanu. Asked if Ibori should pay back the money, Fashanu added "anybody who does anything [wrong] should pay it back. Nobody's denying that."

Prosecutor Sasha Wass told the court Ibori had accepted he was involved in "wide-scale theft, fraud and corruption when he was governor of Delta state".

He allegedly used a false date of birth when he ran for the governorship of the state to conceal previous convictions as a criminal record would have excluded him from taking part in the election.

Ms Wass added: "Mr Ibori tricked his way into public office. He had tricked the Nigerian authorities and the Nigerian voters. He was thus never the legitimate governor of Delta state." According to prosecutors he is 49, but according to the date of birth he used in Nigeria he would be 53.

After evading arrest by the Nigerian government for several years, Ibori was extradited from Dubai to the UK in April 2011 by INTERPOL agents using an international arrest warrant issued by the UK government. Detective Inspector Paul Whatmore said it was estimated that Ibori stole around $250m (£157m) from the Nigerian state.

He said: "The scale can only be described as huge. Vast sums of money which were used to fund his lavish lifestyle. "The real harm in this case is the potential loss to people in some of the poorest regions in the world."

Attempts will now be made to confiscate as much of the money as possible, so that it can be returned to the state government, Mr Whatmore said. So far only £3m has been recovered.

On 1st and 2 June 2010, UK juries found Ibori's wife Theresa, his sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori and his associate, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, guilty on counts of money laundering, in a verdict delivered at the Southwark Crown Court, London and were each sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Following the guilty plea entered by Ibori, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria now plans to bring a case before an Appeal Court to challenge the ruling of a lower court in Asaba, Delta state, which acquitted Ibori of a 170-count corruption charge levelled against him in 2009.