Saharareporters, New York Amongst state former state governors under scrutiny for corruption, James Ibori occupies the ingenious place of systematic stripper of state resources. One thing was clear, about his taste and love for luxury, he is compulsive about the acquisition of luxurious cars and choice properties .

Document recently obtained by Saharareporters shows that James Ibori within his eight year in office as Delta State governor has acquired all the top of the line automobiles. He has done it all, acquiring luxurious American, German and British made cars that all his questionable wealth could buy.

Perhaps it is the desire to capture the land and the air that drove him feverishly to buy a brand new Bombardier Challenger 604 jet with monies looted from Delta State as earlier reported by Saharareporters. Like most in the Mafioso, he tries hard to project, he is dapper in appearance, he is also something of pimp in his signature bowler hat outings, he even made Bombardier Aerospace company, the manufacturer of his jet to “pimp up” his private jet by requesting for further finicky changes four different times, the luxurious adjustments jerked the cost of the jet by another $100,000 and elongated the delivery date by weeks.

His requests range from seeking additional headrests for 12 seats in the jet to asking for the inclusion of RCA jacks to make the aircraft iPod compatible.

Though Saharareporters does not have a census of James Onafefe Ibori’s cars in Nigeria, his former reveal that he is a car freak, however documents obtained by Saharareporters, describes the acquisition of a state-of-the-art armor plated Mercedes Benz (Maybach 62 Maclaren) vehicle in May 2005 with registration number XC05 AAM, it was the hallmark of James Ibori’s appetite for luxurious cars. The car which was purchased for 406,600 Euros ($582,654.12 USD) was sold to James Ibori by Mayfair Mercedes Benz dealership situated at 105 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 1QY, it was directly exported to South Africa and paid for by James Ibori  with all paperwork completed through his address at Flat 23, 20 Abbey Road, London, NW8 9BJ. Payment for this vehicle was done by one of his front companies, “Stanhope Investments Limited” with payment instructions issued via PKB PRIVATE BANK AG 12 Charles Galland, Geneva, Switzerland.

In all, Saharareporters discovered that James Ibori owned four luxurious cars in London, three of which are parked in garages of his different properties in London having shipped the Maybach 62 through to South Africa, he is the sole registered keeper of a Bentley continental GT registration number LK54 NFT, a Chrysler car with registration number LN51 FRT and another Jaguar with registration number W933VLP.

His real estate properties are also spread all over the UK, he is the known owner of 7 Westover Hill, London HA3 0LZ with title number MX 207021according to investigations at the UK Land registry. Saharareporters gathered that the property is fully paid for as of 2001. The amount paid for the property was £2.3 million; the current value is £4 million. The property is registered to Haleway Properties Limited, a company registered in Gilbralatar by a company formation known as BC Centrum at 788 Finchley Road, London. James Ibori and his wife, Theresa Ibori are the beneficial owners of Haleway Properties.

Another property is the Flat 23, 20 Abbey Road, London NW8 9BJ, which has been described mailbox, with title number NGL 699019 registered in the name of James Ibori, the property was purchased in 1999 with an initial deposit of £157,000, the balance of the mortgage was redeemed with a payment of £90,000 on the April 12th 2000 almost one year into his tenure as the governor of Delta State. A final payment of £70,081 was made on July 25 2000. The property is approximately worth £750,000.

On July 29 2005 another front company for James Ibori known as Telaton Quays Limited acquired a property known as 42 Great Ground, Shaftbury, Dorset SP7 8FF. The property is registered at the UK land registry under title number DT 326978; the property was purchased for £298,995 and currently valued at £350,000. The conveyance was conducted by no other person than Mr. Bhadresh Gohil of Arlingtons Sharmas Solicitors; Saharareporters discovered that the payment for the property was made by James Ibori’s mistress, Udo Amaka Okoronkwo through a cheque in the sum of £311,000 dated July 20th 2005. A conveyance obtained by Saharareporters points to James Ibori and his wife Theresa as having purchased the property through the medium of Telaton Quays Limited, a correspondence from James Ibori to Bhadresh Gohil indicate that he was giving specific instructions directly to Mr. Gohil to complete the purchase.

Other properties linked to James Ibori include 76 Woodhill Crescent, Kenton, Harrow Middlesex HA3 0LZ, where Ibie Ibori, his sister and principal accomplice with regards to money laundering activities lives, the house is now worth £475,000.

There is also the property at 71 Mayflower Lodge, Regents Park Road, London, N3 3HX where James Ibori’s mistress Udo Amaka Okoronkwo resides with the child she had by James Ibori. The mortgage is paid to Abbey National Building Society through an HSBC current account number 21228420.

James Ibori and Theresa Ibori owns a properties company in London by the name Boyd Properties Limited which is managed by BC Centrum on 788 Finchley Road in London, in March 23 2004, James ibori appointed Udo Amaka Okoronkwo to act on Boyd Properties Limited with the authority to sign documents relating to sales and purchases of assets of the company. In one instance Boyd Properties paid £388,077 to Peter Brown Solicitors in the purchase of 36 Hunter Lodge, Calton Gate, Maida Vale, London W9 3TQ through an HSBC account number 91310801 located at Buckingham Palace Road, Belgravia. Boyd Properties Limited is believed to own several assets in London that are yet to be discovered by UK police investigators.

Adebimpe Pogoson who was hired by James Ibori as “Miss Bimpe Faloye” in 1997 while he was the publisher of Diet newspaper (now defunct). In London, Bimpe retained her address at 58 Uphill Drive, London, NW9 0BX where she paid council tax until June 30 2005. After her involvement in money laundering was unveiled by the EFCC, she fled Nigeria and returned to London and moved into Flat 39 Barons Court which is owned by Ibie Ibori according to UK Land registry records.

In Nigeria, Ibori real estate is legendary, PROPERTIES No 21 Idejo street off Adeola Odeku Massive Duplex bought under Christy's name his big sister in London, 21 Probyn road off Bourdillon Twin duplex swimming pool Barbecue resort garden and lawn tennis court alleged to have been bought from G Cappa Construction Company which was the former residence of the managing director. 18A Adeyemi Lawson Road off Macpherson Avenue Ikoyi 10A, B&C Turbull Road Ikoyi. Dec 9TH 2003 Adebimpe Pogoson issued a twenty million Naira post dated Assurance Bank cheque to Diya Fatimilehin and Co. for part payment of Plot 5 Block iv Layi Ajayi Bembe street off Turbull Road, Ikoyi There are also Corporate Affairs Commission property Asokoro Escom Asokoro property all allegedly owned by Ibori

 Also in Florida USA, James Ibori is heavily invested in the real estate sector through  HFA Development Group with account3200056255 ABA NO 266086554 at CITI Bank,1600 Coral Way Miami Florida 33145 PRIMI LCC with offices in the United Kingdom and Nigeria A/C NO 003677025981 ABA NO 063100277 Bank Of America 2308 Pouce De Leon Boulervard Coral Gables Miami Florida 33134 and  BOND TECHNOLOGIES which received on December 8 2003 a transfer from James ibori’s KOLN account number 109091012 at Gulf Bank in Nigeria the sum of $74,000.00 to account number 61006602 ABA NO 063108680 with the Bank of Tampa 13868, North Dale Mabry Tampa Florida FL33618. Florida projects were mostly coordinated by Olusegun Fowora who lives in Aventura, Miami, Florida in $750,000 mansion within the vicinity of the ocean.

Saharareporters contacted Segun Fowora who initially feigned ignorance of James Ibori and hung up the phone on us, however he called our reporters back days later and admitted that he was friends with James Ibori, he also said he was a contractor with the Delta State government handling “medium size” projects. Though he said he was aware of HFA Development Company because he had done business with the company before, he denies any involvement in money laundering activities of James Ibori.  

James Ibori is believed to own properties in Texas, Los Angeles, and New York city and new sources tells Saharareporters that the FBI has begun investigations against him before he returned to Nigeria last week..

Robot  # 1 | 25.10.2007 16:41

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