James Ibori's Loot

Former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, acquired a fortune exceeding £250m before the long arms of the law caught up with him. Some few years before he became governor and one of Nigeria’s most influential influential and richest politician, Chief Ibori worked as a cashier for Wickes, on a salary of £5,000-a-year.

     While the people of oil-rich Delta state languished in impoverishment, the former governor wasted no time spending his new-found wealth on luxury homes, top-of-the-range automobiles etc.
     All these came to an end when James Ibori stood in the dock of London’s Southwark Court admitting to the whole world that  he  had indeed stolen tens of millions of pounds from Delta state were he reigned as governor for eight years. He was brought to trial in UK because the bulk of his stolen money was laundered through his London office.
     Ibori’s crimes was aided by some of his  family members, including his wife Theresa, sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, his mistress Udoamaka Oniugbo, and Mayfair lawyer Bhadresh Gohil.
        Investigations revealed that Ibori  had  acquired  six choice properties in London alone, including a six-bedroom house with indoor pool in Hampstead for £2.2m and a flat opposite the nearby Abbey Road recording studios.
       He has a property in Dorset and a £3.2m edifice in South Africa. This is just a few among the lot. James Ibori parades the latest state of the art  cars, among them:  a fleet of armoured Range Rovers costing £600,000 and a £120,000 Bentley, a £300,000Mercedes, which he immediately shipped to South Africa.He  also owned a £12m private jet and spends about £126,000 a month on his credit cards. At one time,  the convicted former governor ran up a £15,000 bill for a two-day stay at the Lanesborough hotel in London.
          It would be recalled that Ibori was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in December 2007, but two years later a court in Asaba, Delta state dismissed the charges for lack of evidence. But when the case was reopened by Nigerian authorities in April 2010, Ibori fled to Dubai where he was detained at the request of the Metropolitan Police and extradited to the UK last April.
       The UK court where Ibori was arraigned was packed full with people who came to witness the proceeding. James Ibori,  appeared in the dock to  answer for his offences of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. The prosecutor, Sasha Wass told the court Ibori concealed his UK criminal record, which would have excluded him from office in Nigeria.      
       His wife, his mistress and his sister were all jailed for five years each for money laundering offences following earlier trials. His  London-based lawyer,  Gohil, 46,was jailed for seven years for his role in the scam. Attempts will be made to confiscate as much of Ibori’s money and assets as possible so that they can be returned to Nigeria.