Ibori loses appeal against UK conviction over graft, goes to European Union

Former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, who was jailed in Britain for laundering tens of millions of dollars in stolen public funds through British banks and property yesterday lost an appeal against his London conviction.

A report by Reuters said the court of Appeal’s ruling against Ibori is a relief for the British authorities at a time when they are trying to stem the flow of illicit funds from overseas through London.

Ibori had pleaded guilty in a London court in 2012 to 10 count charges of fraud and money laundering involving about 50 million pounds ($66 million).He got a 13-year jail sentence for which he served half of the term, as is common in the British system and is now back in Nigeria.

Anti-corruption campaigners commended the ruling as a milestone for Nigeria, where no politician of Ibori’s stature had been successfully prosecuted, and for Britain, long seen as too complacent on the proceeds of corruption being laundered through the UK.

Wednesday’s ruling will allow Britain to resume efforts to confiscate millions of dollars’ worth of assets and return them to Nigeria’s coffers. The assets have been frozen for years, while the case has been dragging in the courts.

Despite his guilty pleas, Ibori appealed against his conviction, alleging that one of the British police officers, who investigated him (Ibori) had collected bribes from a private detective in return for tips on the probe, but the indicted officer had denied the claims.

Ibori had also alleged that British prosecutors had covered up the corruption case, tainting the judicial process, allegations that had threatened to turn the case into a major embarrassment for the British authorities.But three senior appeal judges said the bribery claims have no evidence, insisting that if it happened, Ibori himself had instigated it, as the private detective was working for him.