Britain seeks to confiscate Ibori’s loot

A British prosecutor launched a fresh attempt on Thursday to confiscate tens of millions of pounds stolen from Delta State by its former governor, James Ibori, who was convicted of laundering his loot in Britain, Reuters has reported.

Ibori pleaded guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court in 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money laundering and received a 13-year jail sentence.

Having served half of his sentence in pre-and post-trial detention, Ibori was released from jail in December 2016 and is now back in the country.

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In 2013, a first attempt was made in Britain to confiscate his assets, but it was aborted after three weeks of hearings because of unresolved legal disputes.

Then the confiscation process was stalled for several years while Ibori and several of his associates who had been convicted for their roles in laundering his money, appealed unsuccessfully against their convictions.

Restarting the process at Southwark on Thursday, prosecution counsel, Jonathan Kinnear, began listing assets that Britain seeks to confiscate from Ibori and return to Nigerian public funds.