It Is Official! Ibori to Be Extradited to London
In his attempt to delay the inevitable, James Onanefe Ibori, the thieving ex-governor of Delta State, has appealed the court ruling to extradite him to London to faces charges of money laundering.
Huhuonline.com learnt that an Appeal court in Dubai, Sunday,17 th October ruled that there was enough evidence against the former governor, and ordered that he should be extradited to London, where he faces charges of theft and laundering of $292million.
Ibori is wanted in Britain and Nigerian. However, Nigeria does not have extradition treaty with Dubai; hence the former governor will be repatriated to London to face corruption charges and subsequently deported to Nigeria.
As soon as the ruling was delivered, Ibori associates, led by Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan hurriedly put out information aimed at deceiving the public. They claimed that the judges had ruled in Ibori`s favor.
James Ibori is not a stranger to the British judicial system. He has previous conviction.
James Ibori's Rap Sheet
According to British court records, Mr. Ibori, age 29 and standing at 5ft 11 at the time, was born on August 4, 1962, and lived at 9 Nower Hill Pinner Middlesex, England. He worked as a cashier at Wickes Building Supplies, Victoria Road, Ruislip, Middlesex, and earned 9,500 pounds per annum.
On Tuesday, August 28, 1990, three days after she had been in police trouble, Theresa Nakanda went into the Wickes Building Supplies Store and, putting her Uxbridge Police Station incident quickly behind her and stole goods with the connivance of her boyfriend, Mr. Ibori, at about 8.30pm.
Mr. Ibori "Assisted his girlfriend (Theresa) to pass through his check-out without paying for goods whilst employed as cashier," was the way British court records described the former governor's act.
Mr. Ibori and his girlfriend (now wife) were then charged before the Crown court at Isleworth. Theresa Nakanda and James Ibori, on August 28, 1990, were charged for "stealing a quantity of goods..."
On January 25 1991, Judge Thomas convicted both Mr. Ibori and his wife and fined them "300 pounds in default and 14 days imprisonment'. They were also made to pay "costs of the prosecution in the sum of 450 pounds."
Mr. Ibori, who was represented by the law firm of Desmond Wright and Co., paid a total of 750 pounds for his crime.
Graduating to credit card fraud
A year after his conviction before the Crown court at Isleworth, Mr. Ibori, who is an elder of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was back in court again, this time at the Clerkenwell magistrates court, in London.
Police officer McDonald stated in his witness statement that:
"I have made further enquiries into the criminal convictions for Mr. James Ibori and can confirm that on the 7th of February 1992 at Clerkenwell magistrate's court, London, Mr. Ibori was convicted of one count of handling stolen goods contrary to Section 22 of the Theft Act, 1968."
The offense took place on Thursday, September 12, 1991. Putting on a blue suit and a pair of brown shoes at about 3:50pm, Mr. Ibori was challenged by British police officer Michelsen who found an American Express Gold card on him.
When he was challenged, "he claimed to be Sean Burns, the card owner", the UK court records show. By the time the card was retrieved from Mr. Ibori, the "card was involved in 1000 pounds of misuse." Mr. Ibori was arrested but granted bail.
The former Delta State governor was charged before Clerkenwell Magistrate Court in England on two offences, one of which stated that "on or before 12th September 1991 within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, you stole one American Express Gold Card of nominal value belonging to American Express, contrary to: S1 Theft Act 1968."
The court could not prove that he stole the card; however, Mr. Ibori was convicted of handling stolen goods. "You did handle one American Express Gold card in that knowing or believing it to be stolen goods; you did dishonestly arrange to receive the said goods. Contrary to S22 (1) Theft Act 1968," the court ruled.