James Ibori neither released from UK prison nor re-arrested – aide

The embattled former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who is currently serving a jail term in a UK prison, is neither released nor rearrested, a statement by the former governor’s media aide, Tony Eluemunor, said.

James Ibori

There were reports Wednesday that Mr. Ibori was released from prison and rearrested immediately.

The statement said, “The Chief James Onanefe Ibori Media Office hereby informs Ibori’s teaming supporters that the news about the release of their champion and political leader from prison is not true.

“This news had set off a frenzy of activities in the entire South-South geo-political zone, as many people took off from their respective towns and villages to storm Ibori’s home town of Oghara.

“Many kept vigil at his gate; but the vigil was in vain as Ibori has not finished serving his term.

“Perhaps as the magnitude of the lie The News on-line publication told to itself and the nation (in a story it had termed an exclusive) dawned on it, its sister publication, PM News kicked in with another lie; that Ibori had been re-arrested.

“This caused a sleepless night to another set of Ibori’s supporters as they stayed up all night working the phone to find out the true situation.

“The truth is that the exclusive stories published by The News and PM news were exclusive lies. Over 24 hours after the publications, no British authority has confirmed either the news of the release or of the purported re-arrest.

“Many people have asked me how such a malicious story could have been cocked up. My only reply is that Ibori’s political and legal persecutors tried to counter the favourable wind that arose from Ibori’s corner when the case turned against the London Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecutors by late January 2016, when even they agreed that they were corrupt in the way they investigated Ibori and his associates.

“That forced them to withdraw the obstructing the cause of justice charges they had brought against one of Ibori’s lawyers, Mr. Bradesh Gohil.

“Most importantly, the judge that day ruled that all the documents that had been withheld from Ibori and all his associates should be turned over to them and that they were free to go on appeal to challenge even their earlier convictions.

“It was this ray of hope that even Ibori’s conviction may be struck down that the media manipulators attempted to extinguish in the hearts and minds of Ibori’s supporters when they concocted their lies and passed same off as news.

”To prove that the case has turned and the hunters may be feeling the heat, respected British news media such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), The Times of London and the Guardian of London, last week announced that calls have arisen that Ibori’s and his associates’ accusations of corruption against the prosecution be investigated.

“The New Indian Express of Monday 25 January 2016 reported that “In representations to the judge, Stephen Kamlish, Gohil’s defence team accused the Crown Prosecution Service of “positively misleading the court and the parties as part of their deliberate cover-up of discloseable material”.

“In response, the Judge Tester said, “The crown has offered no evidence for one or both of the following reasons. One, that the allegations of corruption made by Mr Gohil are true, and not false. The second is that the crown has suppressed material both in this court and in other proceedings, including the trial of Ibori.

“The crown offering no evidence can only mean the crown is not prepared themselves to explain their decision, either for the abuse of the court in bad faith or for the police corruption. In those circumstance, it is our duty to our client to raise these matters and this brings into question the safety of these convictions.

“The Indian Express continued: “A Met police intelligence report seen by this paper (The Indian Express) suggests an RISC employee telephoned a police officer working on the Ibori investigation in 2007 and allegedly told him his inquiries were “on the right track”. Separate documents shown to Gohil’s defence team are said to reveal the existence of 19 cash deposits into the same officer’s bank account. The CPS had allegedly denied the existence of the documents.

“It is an incontrovertible fact that the confiscation hearing has not started at all, and remains months away into the future.

“Even today, that remains the case as nothing has changed. The confiscation hearing has not started and nobody, whether Ibori or another person, has been arrested as there is really no need to arrest anyone because of a confiscation hearing”.

James Ibori neither released from UK prison nor re-arrested – aide

Grant presidential pardon to Ibori, Ijaw group urges Jonathan

WARRI—AN Ijaw group, the Ijaw People’s Development Initiative, IPDI, in Delta State, weekend, called on President Godluck Jonathan to grant presidential pardon to the former governor of the state, Chief James Ibori, before his exit from Aso Villa, next month.

National President the group, Mr. Austin Ozobo, in interactive with newsmen, said: “Chief Ibori has suffered enough and there is no justification for not granting him clemency, as had been done to others.”

Ozobo said Ibori was not the only corrupt leader in the country, but unfortunately, he has undergone indescribable hardship more than others.

“Ibori should be freed. Hundreds of persons, who looted heavily from government coffers are walking freely in the streets. The continuous incarceration of one corrupt man among a million other corrupt citizens cannot change the menace of high level corruption in the country.

‘’Ibori’s imprisonment could be seen as a witch-hunt and such is highly barbaric and provocative and the Nigerian government must quickly do something about his matter. ‘’Despite the ordeals Ibori is passing through, Deltans hold him in high esteem and his great achievements while in office cannot be discountenanceded.

‘’There should be no sacred cow among political office holders. Ibori’s case is not different, he is a victim of circumstances. Release him and let him breathe fresh air and let other corrupt public office holders be tried as well.”

 

Grant presidential pardon to Ibori, Ijaw group urges Jonathan

London judge adjourns Ibori’s case to June 6, 2016

Judge Anthony Pitts of the Southwark Crown Court, UK, yesterday, adjourned the confiscation hearing of Chief James Ibori, former Delta State Governor, till June 6 next year.

Judge Pitts granted the adjournment to allow him time attend to a case of attempt to pervert the course of justice brought against Ibori’s co-defendant, Mr. Bradresh Gohil.

Gohil’s counsel alleged in court, at the hearing yesterday, that a British Police Officer, Mcdonald, who is a lead investigating officer in the case involving Gohil and Ibori, had been involved in collecting money for information involving Gohil and Risk Management company.

While pressing home his demand, Gohil’s counsel said: “There are new evidence indicating that DC Macdonald exchanged 22 telephone calls, which have been traced with Risk Management at key stages of the investigation of Ibori.

“They coincided with unexplained payment into DC Macdonald’s account.”

Judge Pitts, while granting the request of Gohil’s counsel in the trial, said: “Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to have been done.”

This is a second abrupt ending in the Ibori confiscation case.

The first ended last year, after it abruptly ended James Ibori’s confiscation hearing late last year on the grounds that the judge lacked enough evidence to arrive at a decision in the confiscation hearing.

Asking that the case be adjourned again on two grounds, Mr. Gohil’s counsel, Kamlish, a Queen’s Counsel, said: “Your Honour, I seek to have this case adjourned on two grounds:

“Gohil is not being represented at the hearing as the former counsel and solicitor have withdrawn and the second ground being that it will be improper to have a confiscation hearing before Mr. Gohil’s trial.”

The judge, in accepting his request, adjourned Mr. Gohil’s trial till January 16, 2016.

This adjournment of Gohil’s trial affected Ibori’s confiscation hearing as the prosecution sought an application to join Ibori’s and Gohil’s cases together.

Ibori’s case should have lasted for just six weeks, but will now be linked to Gohil’s case, which will begin January next year.

 

London judge adjourns Ibori’s case to June 6, 2016

Secure Ibori"s release - Emami tells Federal Government

WARRI— A Niger Delta activist and leader of Concerned Deltans, Chief Ayirimi Emami, yesterday, said that former Governor James Ibori of the state pleaded guilty to money laundering charges at a United Kingdom Court, so that “political solution could be reached for his release.”

Chief Emami, who spoke in Warri during a peaceful protest organised by Concerned Deltans as part of activities to mark the 56th birthday anniversary of Chief Ibori, said that the Federal Government was not doing enough to secure Ibori’s release.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain vowed that members of Concerned Deltans will continue the struggle until the former Delta State governor and proponent of resource control was released.

He said: “We will keep on fighting until Ibori is released. We are still very loyal to him and we are calling on the President to secure Ibori’s release, because that is our interest.”

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Secure Ibori"s release - Emami tells Federal Government

James Ibori May Not Return A Dime Of The Money He Stole As Governor

According to new reports, former Delta State governor James Ibori may not return a dime of the money he stole as governor for eight years. Find the report from UK Daily Mail below…

A former Wickes cashier who became a Nigerian state governor and defrauded £157m of public funds to live a lavish lifestyle may not have to pay a single penny back.

James Ibori, 51, is said to have personally pocketed £50million of cash stolen from the west African nation’s oil-rich Delta State during his eight-year tenure.

The former £5,000-a-year Wickes cashier blew millions on luxury homes, a £12.6million private jet, fees at some of the UK’s most expensive boarding schools for his children, first-class travel and exclusive hotels. Continue…

He owned a £600,000 fleet of armoured Range Rovers, a £120,000 Bentley and a £340,000 Mercedes Maybach that was shipped direct to his £3.2million mansion in Johannesburg.

Described as one of Nigeria’s most influential and wealthy politicians, Ibori rigged lucrative state contracts with the help of his wife, mistress, sister, and an inner circle of corrupt officials and lifted money straight out of state funds.

He also sold £23million of state-owned shares in telecoms company Vee Mobile to fund a lavish lifestyle, including £125,000 monthly credit card bills while his people languished in poverty.

Ibori, who now lives in Hampstead, north west London, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars in April 2012 after admitting a raft of fraud and money laundering offences.

He is due to face a confiscation hearing at Southwark Crown Court but it was claimed today that he did not make a single penny from the £157million fraud.

Applying to have confiscation proceedings thrown out, Ivan Krolick, defending, said Ibori’s pleas of guilt were not an admission that he personally profited from the scam.

The court heard if the full confiscation hearing does go ahead under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the fraudster may only be ordered to pay back £330,000.

Prosecutor Sasha Wass QC said: ‘The handling of the money itself gave rise to the crime so the benefit of the crime in the context of this case would be the same thing.

‘It gives rise to the proceeds of crime.

Ibori owned a £120,000 Bentley, a £340,000 Mercedes Maybach that was shipped direct to his £3.2million mansion in Johannesburg and a range of homes including one in Dorset, pictured

Ibori, described as one of Nigeria’s most influential and wealthy politicians, bought a £120,000 Bentley, pictured, a £340,000 Mercedes Maybach and a £600,000 fleet of armoured Range Rovers

Ibori, 51, who now lives in Hampstead, north west London, pictured, was previously convicted of stealing goods from hope improvement store Wickes and handling a stolen credit card

The former £5,000-a-year Wickes cashier owned a £600,000 fleet of armoured Range Rovers and sold £23million of state-owned shares to fund a lavish lifestyle, including £125,000 monthly credit card bills

‘The Crown has been taken wholly by surprise that Mr Krolick should address the court and say that there was no evidence in effect that Mr Ibori benefited’.

Nigerian-born Ibori moved to the UK in the 1980s where he married his wife, Theresa, and worked as a cashier at Wickes in Ruislip, Middlesex.

In 1990 the pair were convicted of stealing goods from the store and fined £300. A year later Ibori was fined £100 for handling a stolen credit card before he moved back to his homeland.

Ibori was elected as governor of Delta State in 1999 after tricking his way into power by hiding details of his previous convictions in the UK for theft and changing his age.

In 2003, he was re-elected as governor for another four year term, after failing to disclose his previous convictions and financial status.

During that time he systematically stole funds from the public purse, secreting them in bank accounts across the world.

His methods included the inflation of State contracts, kickbacks and the transfer of cash from the State accounts by unscrupulous employees in his inner circle.

In one instance he rigged the tendering process for state contracts in cahoots with his mistress Udoumaka Okoronkwo, who would be due to face confiscation proceedings alongside Ibori.

The couple used Okoronkwo’s companies Sagicon, Rivbbed and Saagaris – the latter of which their four-month old love-child was named as a director of – to ‘bid’ for inflated deals to provide items to the state including china and vehicles.

The money was then channelled out of Nigeria before it was laundered through a series of off-shore trusts and companies.

Ibori was also helped to steal the cash by his wife Theresa, sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, and a series of corrupt professionals – UK London based lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil, fiduciary agent Daniel Benedict McCann and corporate financier, Lambertus De Boer.

Ibori was also helped to steal the cash by his sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, whose plush home is pictured above, wife Theresa and a series of corrupt professionals including London based lawyer Bhadresh Gohil

The former state governor was arrested by officers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria in December 2007.

Two years later at a court in Ibori’s hometown in Asaba, 170 charges of corruption were dismissed on the basis that there was no clear evidence to convict.

The case was reopened in April 2010 by the EFCC before Ibori fled to Dubai. He was finally extradited back to the UK in April 2011.

Ibori admitted ten offences relating to conspiracy to launder funds from Delta State, substantive counts of money laundering and one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception and fraud.

He was excused from attending today’s hearing and Judge Anthony Pitts is expected to rule on Friday whether he will face a full confiscation hearing. (0)

James Ibori May Not Return A Dime Of The Money He Stole As Governor