Here's a report I found on Standard UK. UK Taxpayers are blaming former Delta state governor James Ibori for a huge new bill. Find the report below...
His wealth
allowed him to buy expensive homes, a £12 million jet and a £1 million
fleet of cars including a Bentley, Mercedes and armoured Range Rovers.
His crimes were detected in a Scotland Yard investigation that led to
him being jailed in April 2012 for 13 years for fraud and money
laundering.
But a decision on how much he will have to repay has
now been postponed again, to June next year, after lawyers for Ibori and
two other defendants told Southwark crown court that more time was
needed to prepare their cases. It means Ibori will not have to repay any of the money until at least 2017.
Prosecuting
barrister Sasha Wass QC said the delay to the hearing, which was due to
start in 2013, meant the cost to the taxpayer of dealing with Ibori
would spiral further. She said £2 million had already been spent on his
defence. Ivan Krolick, representing Ibori, told the judge that he and
another defence barrister needed more time because of the recent
submission of a 66,000-page file of prosecution evidence. Ms Wass said the new file contained evidence already given to the defence, repackaged to make it easier to read.
Judge
Pitts agreed to delay the hearing after barristers for the other
defendants, London solicitor Bhadresh Gohil and Ibori’s former mistress
Udoamaka Onuigbo, also called for a delay.Ms Onuigbo’s
barrister, Ami Feder, said his client — deported after serving her
prison term for money laundering — wished to return to Britain for the
hearing but failed to obtain a visa and needed time for a new
application.
Ibori was governor of Nigeria’s Delta State between
1999 and 2007. He admitted fraud totalling nearly £50 million, but now
denies making personal profit from his crimes.
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