The recent discovery of yet another fraud in the Delta State government under Governor James Ibori, in which Delta State shares were used as collateral for bank loans on behalf of Ascot Offshore Nigeria Limited, has led to serious political manipulation and high-level forgery of documents by the Emmanuel Uduaghan-led state administration.
Early yesterday, The Punch newspaper revealed how Oceanic bank shares owned by the Delta State government were given away to Ascot to offset needed collateral assets to enable James Ibori buy off Wilbros Nigeria limited. The deal enabled Henry Imashekka, acting on behalf of Ibori, to secure loans from InterContinental Bank to pay for the oil services company.
Although this information had always been known to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the agency hid it from the public and even allowed Imashekka to escape arrest (he is believed to be hiding out in Ghana) until Central Bank officials leaked the information to the media.
The EFCC, in an attempt to save face, has summarily summoned Ibori and
Yar’Adua’s Principal Private Secretary, David Edevbie, to appear before it. Sources told Saharareporters that it was most unlikely that Ibori would actually put in the appearance, which is a smokescreen designed to lend dubious credibility to the matter. Even if he does, they said nothing would come of it.
Meanwhile, Delta State officials, who claim to be “unaware” of the scam, have engaged the services of accountants working hard to produce “evidence” that the state government has shares in the almost moribund company. Wilbros owes N44 billion in toxic and unserviceable loans to Oceanic bank.
Officials of InterContinental Bank, adopting the same method, successfully manipulated the public to believe that Notore Chemicals, another company owned by Ibori, last week revived its repayment obligations, without explaining how. Ibori was this week seen flying in a Notore 12-seater jet between Lagos and Abuja, where sources told Saharareporters he had gone to conclude new deals with Yar’Adua to ensure that the ongoing manipulations are properly done and the Nigerian public is once again hoodwinked by the EFCC.
Meanwhile, in London this morning, three men that assisted Ibori’s and his associates to launder the ECONET/ V-Mobile funds in the UK: his lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil, Daniel McCann and Lambertus De Boer, who were yesterday booked and granted administrative bail in the $37.8 million V-Mobile telecoms scam, appeared in court. The hearing, which lasted one hour, mainly dealt with bail conditions for the three men. They each have their international passports confiscated, and will report to the police between once and three times a week.
Mr. Gohil’s lawyer argued that the two payments totalling £450,000 as surety/security was sufficient to ensure his client attended court. Bail for Mr. McCann was set at £50,000. For Mr. De Boer, the judge ordered bail at between £45,000 and £50,000.
The case was transferred to Southwark Crown Court, which is familiar to the Ibori scam squad, with further hearing to resume on November 11 2009.
In the wide-ranging investigation by the Metropolitan Police leading to the arraignment of the three men, President Yar’Adua’s Private Political Secretary, David Edevbie, who used to be Ibori’s Commissioner for Finance, has been declared wanted, along with Imasheka. The police want the men, led by Ibori, to face an assortment of money-laundering charges. For Ibori, these new charges are different from the full load from which he is hiding in the open in Nigeria, shielded by Yar’Adua’s government.
Sources told Saharareporters that the Attorney General of the federation, Michael Aondoakaa has stepped in to clear Ibori’s name in the V-Mobile scam, which involves three states: Lagos, Akwa Ibom and Delta.
The former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, is not included in the London case because he allegedly did not transfer his loot out of Nigeria, opting to pay the Lagos State proceeds from the deal into the accounts of his cousin, Wale Tinubu, the CEO of Oando.
James Ibori, through Henry Imashekka’s Bromley group, transferred his into foreign accounts in Hong Kong, Jersey and the UK using Yar’Adua’s PPS, Edevbie. Some of the monies found their way into Edevbie’s account in London, and he reportedly also bought a house in Florida from the proceeds. The rest is now believed to have been frozen by the Metropolitan Police.
In the case of former governor of Akwa Ibom, Victor Attah, he reportedly hid a huge chunk of about $20 million, which he tagged as “brokerage fees,” in a UK bank account, using Mr. Gohil to distribute the funds into offshore accounts, but all those monies are now frozen. Attah is currently holed up in the US, having been advised by his lawyers last week not to transit through London as the UK Metropolitan police concluded plans to charge their accomplices in court.
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