Video clip shows Ibori’s opulent lifestyle

AS the hearing of the case on confiscation of
assets of former Delta State Governor James
Ibori entered its third day at Southwark Crown
Court, the prosecutors presented a video clip
that showed his opulent lifestyle Wednesday.
After getting permission from the judge,
Sasha Wass opened the prosecution’s
submission with a video clip of about 20
minutes that showed how operatives of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) ransacked the mansion of the former
governor at Clement Isong Street, Abuja.
But while the prosecution further reiterated
its argument that Ibori did benefit according
to the sum for which he pleaded guilty and for
which he was subsequently jailed for 13 years,
defence counsel, Ivan Krolick, cross-examined
the prosecution witness, Detective Peter Clark,
for about two hours.
Although all the defence can do in a
confiscation of assets hearing is just to try to
limit what the Crown can legally take from a
convict, Krolick actually brought some cheer to
the corner where Ibori’s supporters sat in
Courtroom 14, as he occasionally made Clark
look as if he didn’t do a thorough job of
investigating his client’s finances. In the first
half of the day’s proceeding, Wass and Clark
further established how Ibori and his other
partners in crime used sophisticated means of
concealing the multi-million pounds worth of
assets acquired by the jailed governor.
In the video clip for instance, about seven
EFCC operatives ransacked Ibori’s mansion and
pulled out numerous deposit slips used to
make cash deposits at the now defunct Oceanic
Bank. The video revealed Ibori’s taste for
luxury, including a private gym that consisted
of a treadmill.
However, Krolick made a big point of trying
to portray Ibori as a businessman and one who
made a couple of millions before becoming
Delta State governor in 1999. He cited one
instance that Ibori did consultancy services for
a United States’ (U.S.) company and got over a
million pounds in 1998. He also cited entries
in his financial statements which showed that
Ibori had a  company, Alcac Nigeria Ltd, and
the company had records of paying over N3
million to the Customs in one instance and
over N2 million for shipping on another
occasion. But Wass and Clark faulted this
argument, telling the court that when Ibori was
asked to explain the source of his wealth, he
gave no explanation.
Wass also argued that irrespective of whether
Ibori had two boat houses which he rented to
Chevron and Shell on top of his trading
activities before becoming Delta State
governor, “it has always been the Crown’s case
that Mr. Ibori engaged in fraudulent activities
and that even if he got $1.5 million for
consultancy services in 1998, it couldn’t have
funded his post-1999 lifestyle.”