The UK government announced its plans last month to recover more than $5.8 million from former Nigerian governor, James Ibori. Ibori pleaded guilty in 2012 to money laundering and defrauding the Delta State in Nigeria with estimates of “more than $165 million” according to the BBC.
Starting from humble means, Ibori’s rise to the top was a meteoric one. Beginning his career as a cashier in London, he returned to Nigeria and ran for public office. During his tenure as Delta State governor from 1999 to 2007, he reported a modest $25,000 annual salary, yet lived an opulent lifestyle with “an extensive property portfolio of six properties in London as well as further property in Washington, Houston and Johannesburg”, cruising around in several luxury vehicles, and even purchasing a £20 million Bombardier private jet according to watchdog organization Spotlight on Corruption. This lavish lifestyle raised suspicion and led to Ibori’s arrest in Dubai where he was extradited to the UK in April 2011.
Of the multi-million dollars stolen by Ibori, $5.8 million have been recovered so far by the UK government with promises to return the funds to the Nigerian government. The court announced in March 2021 that the seized funds would be allocated to infrastructure development in the Delta State. The UK government is still working to confiscate more funds that Ibori had siphoned away from the public and into various private bank accounts, family members, international co-conspirators, and real estate.
As Ibori’s network of money laundering was so widespread, reaching into the US and UK, the team at Padula Law will continue to monitor the recovery of assets as they develop. In fact, reports from 2012 even show that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) “restrained over $7m in assets connected to Ibori held in the US”.