Former Delta state governor, James Ibori has been indicted in a massive
tax evasion scandal and allegations of corruption made by
Panama Reports released in Panama, a tax haven where many wealthy people go to invest their money due to the free tax laws in the country.
According to internal data of the Panama-based
offshore-provider, Mossack Fonseca, and shared by the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), four offshore companies
in Panama are linked to Ibori who is presently serving a 12 year jail
term in the UK for stealing millions of dollars from the Delta state
government when he served as governor of the state from 1999 to 2007.
Below is what the paper wrote
James Ibori, governor of Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State from 1999 to
2007, pleaded guilty in a London court in 2012 to conspiracy to defraud
and money laundering offenses.
Ibori admitted using his position as governor to corruptly obtain and
divert up to $75 million out of Nigeria through a network of offshore
companies, although authorities alleged that the total amount he
embezzled may have exceeded $250 million. Ibori, who received a 13-year
prison sentence, used millions of dollars to support a lavish lifestyle
that included six houses in London and a fleet of Range Rovers, Bentleys
and Mercedes. Mossack Fonseca was the registered agent of four offshore
companies connected to James Ibori, including Julex Foundation, of
which Ibori and family members were beneficiaries.
Julex was the shareholder of Stanhope Investments, a company
incorporated in Niue in 2003. Ibori was also connected to Financial
Advisory Group Ltd. and Hunglevest Corporation, although Mossack
Fonseca’s files do not specify the exact nature of his connection. In
2008, Mossack Fonseca received a request from the Seychelles government
to produce documents as part of a probe by the Crown Prosecution
Service, England’s principal prosecuting authority, of Ibori and alleged
criminal activities.
In 2012, Ibori pleaded guilty in a London court to laundering and fraud
charges. During court hearings in the United Kingdom, prosecutors
claimed that Ibori opened a Swiss bank account in the name of Stanhope
Investments through which millions of dollars were later channeled to
ultimately buy a $20 million private jet.
