A former Wickes cashier who later became one of Nigeria's most powerful politicians will be sentenced later for fraud and embezzlement which could exceed £160m.James Ibori pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court in February to a series of charges linked to the theft of money from the Delta state and fraud involving state-owned shares in a mobile phone firm.
Ibori was working as a cashier in a branch of a DIY store in Ruislip, Middlesex, when he moved to Nigeria and worked his way up through the political ranks to become a state governor in 1999.
As governor of the state, he was 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 was trying to buy a plane for £12m at the time he was arrested.
Mr Ibori admitted one count of conspiracy to launder money, five of money laundering and one of obtaining a property transfer by deception 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. Read More
0 comments:
Post a Comment