| Mrs. Theresa Ibori, wife of the former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori |
The Southwark Crown Court in London on Monday sentenced Mrs. Theresa Ibori, wife of the former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, to a five-year jail term.
According to an online news portal, Saharareporters, the court also remanded Theresa’s co-accused, Mr. Bhadresh Gohil, in police custody, pending sentencing. The ex-governor’s wife was convicted for her role in her husband’s alleged looting of public funds during his tenure.
In a previous trial, the court had also jailed Ibori‘s sister, Mrs. Christine Ibori-Ibie; and an associate, Ms. Udoamaka Okoronkwo.
Ibori is being held in Dubai awaiting extradition to the UK to face trial for alleged money laundering and stealing of funds belonging to Delta State.
During the course of the trial, the lead prosecutor, Ms. Sasha Wass, told the jury that Ibori’s wife paid £2.2m in cash for a swanky home in Hampstead less than two years after her husband’s inauguration as governor. Wass told the jury that Theresa was aware of the fruadulent nature of the transaction since her husband put her in charge of it.
The Crown prosecutors described the fraudulent acquisition of the Hampstead property as the beginning of Theresa’s rise to extreme wealth.
Wass asked the jury to consider the Iboris’ criminal record, including their conviction in the UK for petty theft a few years before Ibori was elected. Prosecutors also detailed how United States authorities investigated Ibori’s alleged million-dollar deposit in an American bank in 1994.
She told the jury that US law enforcement agents concluded that Ibori lied when he claimed to have received the funds for consultancy work.
Saharareporters reported that the former governor had forfeited $400,000 out of the $1m to the US.
Source : www.punchng.com
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