Nigeria). My question is: what about the other "40" thieves that have
contributed to the slow growth of a state that houses substantial black gold?
Ike Udogu
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eke, Maureen Ngozi" <eke1mn@cmich.edu>
Date: Thursday, March 1, 2012 7:56 am
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> I want to puke. And, this is one person. Imagine how much Nigeria
> has been bled and is still being bled. So, if Ibori wey be small
> shrimp in the sea come tief tief all dis money how much him ogas
> bin take? Will London return the money he siphoned through them?
> And, if that is returned, who takes custody of it?
>
> This is an ugly cycle really. Think of it, these are simply the
> foot soldiers. My mother would say this is like tape worm. You cut
> of the tail, but the head survives to continue sapping the life
> force out of its victim. How painfully sad, very sad, indeed.
>
> Maureen
>
> Maureen N. Eke, PHD
> Professor of English
> AN 240
> Central Michigan University
> Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
> Direct: 989-774-1087
> Main: 989-774-3171
> Fax: 989-773-1271
> Email: eke1mn@cmich.edu or Maureen.eke@cmich.edu
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Biodun
> Sowunmi
> Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 2:43 PM
> To: naija politics ; omoodua ; usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com ;
> naijaelections@yahoogroups.com
> Cc: Nigerian World Forum ; Naijaexcel ; nigeriaroundtable ;
> TalkNigeria ; Naijaobserver
> Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori
>
>
> The Amazing Wealth Of Ibori
>
> Published on February 28, 2012
>
> The Daily Mail of London exposes the massive wealth of former
> governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who pleaded guilty to a 10-
> count charge of money laundering and conspiracy yesterday before a
> Southwark Crown Court in London.
> His rise from DIY store worker to international playboy with a £250
> million fortune is the stuff of dreams.
> A few years after quitting his £5,000-a-year job as a cashier for
> Wickes, James Ibori had become one of Nigeria's most influential
> and richest politicians.
> He wasted no time spending his new-found wealth on luxury homes,
> top-of-the-range cars, five-star travel and fees at exclusive
> boarding schools.
> But yesterday the 49-year-old stood shame-faced in the dock of
> London's Southwark Court as he admitted stealing tens of millions
> of pounds from the oil-rich state he governed in Nigeria. Scotland
> Yard detectives believe his fraud could exceed £250million.
>
> He was on trial in the UK because much of the stolen money was
> laundered through his London office.
> Ibori moved from Nigeria to West London in the late 1980s and was
> found guilty of stealing goods from the Wickes store he worked at
> in Ruislip in 1990.
> A year later he was convicted of handling a stolen credit card. He
> moved back to Nigeria and worked for its president, Sani Abacha, as
> a policy consultant.
> Rising quickly through the ranks of the ruling People's Democratic
> Party, he was voted governor of Delta State in 1999, winning re-
> election four years later.
> In power, he systematically stole from the public purse, taking
> kickbacks and transferring state funds to his own bank accounts
> around the world.
> He was helped by family members, including his wife Theresa, sister
> Christine Ibori-Ibie, his mistress Udoamaka Oniugbo, and Mayfair
> lawyer Bhadresh Gohil.
> A massive police investigation into Ibori's activities revealed he
> had bought six properties in London, including a six-bedroom house
> with indoor pool in Hampstead for £2.2million and a flat opposite
> the nearby Abbey Road recording studios.
> There was also a property in Dorset, a £3.2million mansion in South
> Africa and further real estate in Nigeria.
> He owned a fleet of armoured Range Rovers costing £600,000 and a
> £120,000 Bentley. On one of his trips to London he bought a
> Mercedes Maybach for more than £300,000 at a dealer on Park Lane
> and immediately shipped it to South Africa.
> He bought a private jet for £12 million, spent £126,000 a month on
> his credit cards and ran up a £15,000 bill for a two-day stay at
> the Lanesborough hotel in London.
> Prosecutor Sasha Wass told the court Ibori concealed his UK
> criminal record, which would have excluded him from office in Nigeria.
> "He was never the legitimate governor and there was effectively a
> thief in government house," Miss Wass said. "As the pretender of
> that public office, he was able to plunder Delta State's wealth and
> hand out patronage."
> The court heard Ibori abused his position to award contracts to his
> associates including his sister and his mistress.
> Scotland Yard began its investigation into Ibori after officers
> found two computer hard drives in his London office that revealed
> his criminality.
> He was arrested by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes
> Commission in December 2007, but two years later a court in his
> home town, Asaba, dismissed the charges saying there was not enough
> evidence.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.In a packed courtroom Ibori, dressed in a dark grey suit and
> black shirt, appeared in the dock to enter ten guilty pleas to
> fraud, money laundering and conspiracy on what was due to be the
> first day of a 12-week trial.
> His wife, his mistress and his sister were all jailed for five
> years each for money laundering offences following earlier trials.
> Last March, Gohil, 46, and described as Ibori's London-based
> lawyer, 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.
> The Met's Detective Inspector Paul Whatmore said: "It is always
> rewarding for anyone working on a proceeds of corruption case to
> know that the stolen funds they identify will eventually be
> returned to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the
> world."Ibori will be sentenced on April 16 and 17.
> .Culled from the DailyMail
>
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