LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A British prosecutor launched a
fresh attempt on Thursday to confiscate tens of millions of
pounds stolen from an oil-producing state in Nigeria by its
former governor, who was convicted of laundering his loot in
Britain.
James Ibori, who was governor of Delta State from 1999 to
2007, pleaded guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court in 2012
to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering. He received a
13-year jail sentence.
The case was a rare example of a prominent Nigerian
politician being punished for his part in the endemic corruption
that has blighted Africa's most populous country for decades.
Since then, several other Nigerian former state governors have
been convicted in their own country.
Having served half of his sentence in pre- and post-trial
detention, Ibori was released from jail in December 2016 and is
now back in Nigeria.
In 2013, a first attempt was made in Britain to confiscate
his assets, but it was aborted after three weeks of hearings
because of unresolved legal disputes.
Then the confiscation process was stalled for several years
while Ibori and several of his associates, who had been
convicted for their roles in laundering his money, appealed
unsuccessfully against their convictions.
Restarting the process at Southwark on Thursday, prosecution
counsel Jonathan Kinnear began listing assets that Britain seeks
to confiscate from Ibori and return to Nigerian public funds.
The total value of the known proceeds of his crimes came to
117 million pounds ($153 million), he said. However, only a
portion of that sum is likely to be recoverable.
During his time in office, Ibori, 57, amassed a portfolio of
luxury properties in Nigeria, London, Washington, Houston and
Johannesburg. He travelled all over the world, staying in the
most expensive hotels and spending lavishly in luxury stores.
His lifestyle during those years was a far cry from his
modest beginnings in life. As a young man, he had worked as a
shop assistant at a branch of the home improvements chain Wickes
in London, where he was caught trying to steal from the store
and was convicted of theft.
Britain's National Crime Agency estimates that around 1
billion pounds in dirty money moves into or through the United
Kingdom every year. Ibori is one of the only ultimate
beneficiaries of such practices to have been convicted.
The case is expected to last around four weeks.