http://bisicheli.mywapblog.com/uk-insists-iboris-conviction-stands-desp.xhtml


The conviction of former Delta State governor, James Ibori, in the United Kingdom remained valid despite evidence that a British police officer took bribes during the investigation of his case, Britain’s state prosecution agency confirmed Thursday.

Ibori, who was governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007, is serving a 13-year sentence in a British prison after pleading guilty in 2012 to 10 count of fraud and money-laundering.


Indeed, Ibori’s case became an embarrassing controversy to Britain when one of the former governor’s associates, who was also convicted for money laundering, Bhadresh Gohil, alleged that the judicial process was tainted because prosecutors had covered up evidence of police corruption.

The authorities was said to have initially denied everything and charged Gohil with perverting the course of justice, but that prosecution was abruptly dropped in January when indications were that it could be true. However, in May, the Crown Prosecution Service, CPS, said it had found “material to support the assertion that a police officer received payment in return for information.”
After an internal review of the case lasting

months, the CPS said Thursday that while the material “should have been disclosed to the defence”, that did not call into question the validity of the convictions of Ibori, Gohil and others. Reuters’ reports stated that Ibori’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Gohil’s lawyer said he could not comment for legal reasons.

Court proceedings on the confiscation of Ibori’s assets are still dragging through the courts, and lawyers for Ibori and Gohil could use the next court hearing to challenge the findings of the CPS review.

Ibori first came to the attention of British police in 1991, when he was working as a cashier at Wickes, a home improvements chainstore in London, and was said to have been caught stealing from the till.

After returning to Nigeria, he became involved in politics. As governor of Delta, he was alleged to have amassed a huge fortune and became a power-broker in the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the country.

The charges to which Ibori pleaded guilty amounted to the theft of about $80m. Prosecutors said that was only part of his total booty, which was kept hidden via a complex web of shell companies, offshore accounts and front men.

During his sentencing in 2012, the court heard that he had enjoyed a lavish lifestyle involving foreign properties and a fleet of luxury cars. At the time of his arrest, he had been trying to buy a $20m private jet.

Credit: NATIONAL MIRROR


http://bisicheli.mywapblog.com/uk-insists-iboris-conviction-stands-desp.xhtml

Really?

nice one by th UK Police.

If na our pple here. We all know naaa

why are they treating this Man as if his sins are bigger than that of OBASANJO, TINUBU & IBB?

hmmmm... dis iboris case sef