MORE revelations have emerged on how former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori, stashed over �20 million (about N5 billion) in United Kingdom banks to buy luxury cars and homes.
According to Saharareposters.com, an online news agency, London police investigators disclosed at the weekend that the former governor used banks in Britain to stash the said �20 million to finance his flamboyant lifestyle.
According to the investigators, the money was laundered between 2005 and 2006, using a web of high-street banks in London and an international array of companies that served as fronts.
According to a witness statement made by a financial investigator working for the Met, Ibori used accounts at branches of HSBC, Barclays and Abbey to buy luxury cars and homes.
These include a �4 million mansion in Hampstead, North London; a nearby flat for a mistress and a country retreat in Dorset. Ibori owned a Bentley Continental GT, a Jaguar and an armoured Mercedes-Benz Maybach.
The statement for the Met, seen by The Sunday Times of London, said since 2005, funds intended for education and engineering projects, �(were) allegedly stolen by James Ibori (and) have been laundered through the UK banking system.�
A payment of �275,873 was made to a Mayfair car dealership for an armour-plated Maybach Limousine in 2005.
Ibori, who denied the accusations, has not been charged with any wrongdoing. His lawyers declined to comment.
Known as the �Dapper Don� because of his taste for tailored clothes and Californian wines, Ibori, described by some as a political godfather, used to visit London on shopping sprees with his wife.
The investigation is looking at payments by Shell and Chevron-Texaco to his businesses in his home state. Over three years, Shell, Chevron and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company investigators said, allegedly paid �3.6 million into a Barclays account owned by Ibori for renting out houseboats to foreign employees.
Last Thursday, the Court of Appeal confirmed a freeze on Ibori�s UK assets, worth �17.1 million.
According to an affidavit, the Met intervened at an unspecified date to block his purchase of a private jet from Bombardier, the manufacturers, for $20 million (�9.8m) while he was still in office.
However, an associate who met Ibori in New York in September, told The Sunday Times that he was �desperate to prove that his hands are clean�.
The Met has recently launched a crackdown on foreigners using Britain as a haven for corruptly acquired assets. Ibori is the third Nigerian governor to be investigated under the Proceeds of Crime Act introduced in 2002.
The two others, Chief D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa State, and Chief Joshua Dariye of Plateau State, charged with money laundering in London, jumped bail. One has since been convicted of corruption by a Nigerian court, while the other is on trial.
HSBC, Abbey and Barclays declined to comment but said they would cooperate fully with any police investigation.
Effort by the Nigerian Tribune to confirm the development from Chief Ibori on Sunday proved abortive as he refused to pick his call while his media aide, Mr. Sheddy Ozoene, also did not respond to a text message for clarification on the latest development.