LONDON, (Reuters) – A British court sentenced the former governor of a Nigerian oil state to 13 years in prison today after he pleaded guilty to embezzling 50 million pounds ($79 million) in one of the biggest money-laundering cases seen in Britain.
A founding member and key power-broker of Nigeria’s ruling party, James Ibori is the most prominent Nigerian politician to be successfully prosecuted for the corruption that has held back Africa’s most populous nation and top oil producer for decades.
He pleaded guilty to 10 charges of fraud and money-laundering committed during his eight years as governor of Delta State, an impoverished maze of mangrove creeks and pipelines ravaged by years of armed conflict over access to oil money.
“During those two terms (as governor) you turned yourself in very short order indeed into a multi-millionaire through corruption,” Judge Anthony Pitts told Ibori at the end of a two-day sentencing at Southwark Crown Court in London.
Pitts said it was one of the biggest money-laundering cases seen and that the 50 million pounds Ibori had admitted to stealing may be a “ludicrously low” fraction of his total booty.
“The figure may be in excess of 200 million pounds, it is difficult to tell. The confiscation proceedings may shed some further light on the enormity of the sums involved.”
Prosecutor Sasha Wass said Ibori engaged in a wide variety of frauds. The single biggest scam involved siphoning off $37 million in fake consultancy fees during the sale of Delta State’s stake in mobile telecoms company V Mobile.