James Ibori moved to Long lartin prison in Worcestershire

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Published on Friday, 17 August 2012 15:49

Written by Elombah.com

Convicted Nigerian politician, James Ibori has been moved to Long lartin prison in Worcestershire. The UK Prison, Long Lartin is a Category A men's prison, operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service and  located in the village of South Littleton (near Evesham) in the District of Wychavon in Worcestershire, England. 

The former London DIY store cashier who became governor of an oil-rich Nigerian state was jailed for 13 years for fraud totalling nearly £50m ($77m).

An inquiry made by Elombah.com on 17 August 2012 by 08:02am at Wandsworth prison where Ibori was originally incarcerated revealed “Mr Ibori is no longer at Wandsworth; he is at HMP Long Lartin”

Prison sources refused to reveal the reason for the movement. A prison official simply told elombah.com thus: "I dont know why dont you ask them? here is a copy of their email address".

James Ibori, former governor of Delta state, admitted 10 counts of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

Southwark Crown Court was told the amount he stole from the people of Delta state was "unquantified".

Ibori, who evaded capture in Nigeria after a mob of supporters attacked police, was arrested in Dubai in 2010.

He was extradited to the UK, where he was prosecuted based on evidence from the Metropolitan Police.

One of the counts Ibori admitted related to a $37m (£23m) fraud pertaining to the sale of Delta State's share in Nigerian privatised phone company company V Mobile.

He was governor of Delta State between May 1999 and May 2007. 

Category A is men's closed prison and meant for those whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security.

Offences that may result in consideration for Category A or Restricted Status include: Murder, Attempted murder, Manslaughter, Wounding with intent, Rape, Indecent assault, Robbery or conspiracy to rob (with firearms), Firearms offences, Importing or supplying Class A controlled drug, Possessing or supplying explosives, Offences connected with terrorism and Offences under the Official Secrets Ac

Sasha Wass, QC, prosecuting, told the court Ibori "deliberately and systematically" defrauded the people he was elected to represent. 

The court heard he came to the UK in the 1980s and worked as a cashier at a Wickes DIY store in Ruislip, north west London.

He was convicted in 1991 of stealing from the store but then returned to Nigeria and began his climb up the People's Democratic Party (PDP) network.

Sentencing him, Judge Anthony Pitts told Ibori: "You lived modestly in London in the 1990s and no-one I think hearing at that time would imagine the multi millionaire high profile governor that you became some eight or nine years later."

He became governor in 1999 but soon began taking money from state coffers.

Judge Pitts said: "It was during those two terms that you turned yourself in short order into a multi-millionaire through corruption and theft in your powerful position as Delta state governor."

Ibori bought:

A house in Hampstead, north London, for £2.2m

A property in Shaftesbury, Dorset, for £311,000

A £3.2m mansion in Sandton, near Johannesburg, South Africa

A fleet of armoured Range Rovers valued at £600,000

A £120,000 Bentley

A Mercedes Maybach for 407,000 euros that was shipped direct to his mansion in South Africa

After the hearing Sue Patten, head of the Crown Prosecution Service central fraud group, said it would bid to confiscate the assets Ibori had acquired his riches "at the expense of the some of the poorest people in the world".

www.elombah.com

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