A London court has reportedly made actual findings Thursday regarding the possible confiscation of $129million (100million pounds) belonging to former Delta State governor, James Ibori, who was convicted of fraud in 2012 and has spent years in prison in Britain.
Ibori was extradited in 2011 from Dubai to London, where he was charged with laundering a corruptly acquired fortune.
He pleaded guilty in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering and received a 13-year jail sentence, an outcome hailed by Britain as a landmark in the struggle against corruption.
following the protracted prosecution of Ibori, spanning more than a decade of legal wrangling and court delays, the court on Thursday reached its actual findings and appeared set to conclude the case..
According to Reuters, Judge David Tomlinson of Southwark Crown Court has made factual findings regarding the funds. At a hearing on Thursday, both sides made competing arguments about how the confiscation figure should be calculated, taking into account the judge’s findings. He is expected to finalise and formally issue his order on Friday or shortly afterwards.
Lead prosecution counsel Jonathan Kinnear told the court that the total amount that should be confiscated from Ibori was 101.5 million pounds, and that if he did not pay up he should be sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison.
Having served half of his prison sentence in pre- and post-trial detention, as is common, Ibori returned to Nigeria in 2017 and did not attend Thursday’s hearing. He told Reuters by text message he planned to appeal against the confiscation order.
Britain has pledged to return any money recovered from Ibori to Nigeria. In 2021, it returned 4.2 million pounds that had been confiscated from Ibori’s ex-wife and his sister, who also served jail time for helping him launder money. ($1 = 0.7745 pounds)
With Reports From Reuters
