James Onanefe Ibori
James Ibori, the convicted former Delta State Governor, loses $3 million to the U.S.
Ibori, who is serving a jail term in London along with his wife, Nkoyo, his mistress and lawyer, having all been convicted of money laundering charges, forfeited $3 million assets in the United States and N2.2billion cash to the Federal Government.
Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the US Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton, announced Ibori’s forfeiture of the assets to the US government, after a judge granted a restraining order to register and enforce two orders from UK courts.
The application, which was filed under seal on May 16 in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, sought to restrain assets belonging to Ibori and Bhadresh Gohil, Ibori’s former English solicitor, that are proceeds of corruption.
Specifically, it sought to restrain a mansion in Houston, Texas and two Merrill Lynch brokerage accounts. U.S. District Judge Lamberth granted the application and issued a restraining order under seal on May 21. The department was notified yesterday that its application to unseal the restraining order was granted.
The US has been working with the UK ‘s Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan Police Service to forfeit these corruption proceeds.
According to the application, Ibori, who served as governor of oil-rich Delta State from 1999 to 2007 misappropriated millions of dollars of Delta State funds.
He reportedly laundered those proceeds through a myriad of Shell companies, intermediaries and nominees in several jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, with the help of Gohil. Although Nigeria’s Constitution prohibits governors from maintaining foreign bank accounts and serving as directors of private companies, Ibori and his associates accumulated millions of dollars in assets in the UK and the US, according to the application.
Ibori was convicted in the UK of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced by a British court on April 18 to 13 years in prison. Gohil was convicted in November 2010 of money laundering and prejudicing a money laundering investigation to 10 years in prison.
“Instead of working to benefit the people of the Nigerian Delta, Governor Ibori pilfered state funds and accumulated immense wealth in the process,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.
He added: “He conspired with Mr. Gohil to funnel millions of dollars in corruption proceeds out of Nigeria and into bank accounts and assets maintained in the names of shell companies and nominees. Through the Criminal Division’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, our message is clear: the United States will not be used as a safe haven for the ill-gotten gains of corrupt foreign officials.”
Ibori is to forfeit about N2.25 billion ($15m) to the Federal Government
Justice Gabriel Kolawole granted the interim order, following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), yesterday.
Ibori allegedly offered the money to former EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu through an undisclosed source.
Justice Kolawole also ordered for the publication of the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper to enable any one who wants to lay claim to the money to come before it within 14 days and show cause why the final order of forfeiture should not be made in favour of the Federal Government.
The EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs filed the application pursuant to Sections 17(1), (2), (3) and (4) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Fraud related activities Act number 14 of 2006.
Listed as Defenfants are the Federal Government, the Attorney General of the Federation and the EFCC as the plaintiffs, and the Central Bank of Nigeria as sole defendants.
Moving the application which was premised on five grounds, Jacobs submitted that the cash in the sum of $15 million was received by the officers of the anti graft agency from an undisclosed agent of the former Delta state governor in 2007 as a bribe to compromise its investigation.
He added that the Commission deposited the said cash into the strong room number one of the Central Bank of Nigeria on 26th April, 2007 and that James Ibori had since denied giving the bribe to the EFCC or any of its officers.
He also stated that the money had since remained unclaimed since April 2007 till date and had remained dormant in the apex bank’s strong room .
A 14-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Mr. Bello Yahaya, a Police officer with the EFCC, supported the application for forfeiture. Bello said that he was one EFCC investigators assigned to investigate James Ibori’s case, and he was, therefore, familiar with the facts of the case.
“While the investigation was on going on 25th April 2007, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the then executive chairman of the EFCC called the investigation team headed by Ibrahim Lamorde, the then director of operations to pick up cash in the sum of $15m given to him and the commission through an undisclosed agent of the said James Ibori,” Paragraph 4 of the affidavit reads.
Yahya averred that the money, if left untouched and unspent in the state it was kept in the apex bank’s strong room since April, 2007, may eventually be destroyed, defaced, mutilated and become useless.
He added that it will be in the interest of justice to, in the interim, make an order of forfeiture to it and allow a publication to be made in a chosen national newspaper to alert any interested member of the public to come out within 14 days to show their interest, failure to which the court will make an order of final forfeiture in government’s favour.
Source: The Nation
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