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Wednesday 9 April 2014

James Ibori may not return a dime of the money he stole as governor

According to new reports, former Delta State governor James Ibori may not return a dime of the money he stole as governor for eight years. Find the report from UK Daily Mail below...
A former Wickes cashier who became a Nigerian state governor and defrauded £157m of public funds to live a lavish lifestyle may not have to pay a single penny back.
James Ibori, 51, is said to have personally pocketed £50million of cash stolen from the west African nation’s oil-rich Delta State during his eight-year tenure.
The former £5,000-a-year Wickes cashier blew millions on luxury homes, a £12.6million private jet, fees at some of the UK’s most expensive boarding schools for his children, first-class travel and exclusive hotels. Continue...

He owned a £600,000 fleet of armoured Range Rovers, a £120,000 Bentley and a £340,000 Mercedes Maybach that was shipped direct to his £3.2million mansion in Johannesburg.

Described as one of Nigeria’s most influential and wealthy politicians, Ibori rigged lucrative state contracts with the help of his wife, mistress, sister, and an inner circle of corrupt officials and lifted money straight out of state funds.

He also sold £23million of state-owned shares in telecoms company Vee Mobile to fund a lavish lifestyle, including £125,000 monthly credit card bills while his people languished in poverty.

Ibori, who now lives in Hampstead, north west London, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars in April 2012 after admitting a raft of fraud and money laundering offences.

He is due to face a confiscation hearing at Southwark Crown Court but it was claimed today that he did not make a single penny from the £157million fraud. 

Applying to have confiscation proceedings thrown out, Ivan Krolick, defending, said Ibori’s pleas of guilt were not an admission that he personally profited from the scam.

The court heard if the full confiscation hearing does go ahead under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the fraudster may only be ordered to pay back £330,000.
Prosecutor Sasha Wass QC said: ‘The handling of the money itself gave rise to the crime so the benefit of the crime in the context of this case would be the same thing.
‘It gives rise to the proceeds of crime.
Ibori owned a £120,000 Bentley, a £340,000 Mercedes Maybach that was shipped direct to his £3.2million mansion in Johannesburg and a range of homes including one in Dorset, pictured
Ibori, described as one of Nigeria's most influential and wealthy politicians, bought a £120,000 Bentley, pictured, a £340,000 Mercedes Maybach and a £600,000 fleet of armoured Range Rovers
Ibori, 51, who now lives in Hampstead, north west London, pictured, was previously convicted of stealing goods from hope improvement store Wickes and handling a stolen credit card
The former £5,000-a-year Wickes cashier owned a £600,000 fleet of armoured Range Rovers and sold £23million of state-owned shares to fund a lavish lifestyle, including £125,000 monthly credit card bills
‘The Crown has been taken wholly by surprise that Mr Krolick should address the court and say that there was no evidence in effect that Mr Ibori benefited’.
Nigerian-born Ibori moved to the UK in the 1980s where he married his wife, Theresa, and worked as a cashier at Wickes in Ruislip, Middlesex.
In 1990 the pair were convicted of stealing goods from the store and fined £300. A year later Ibori was fined £100 for handling a stolen credit card before he moved back to his homeland.

Ibori was elected as governor of Delta State in 1999 after tricking his way into power by hiding details of his previous convictions in the UK for theft and changing his age.

In 2003, he was re-elected as governor for another four year term, after failing to disclose his previous convictions and financial status.

During that time he systematically stole funds from the public purse, secreting them in bank accounts across the world.

His methods included the inflation of State contracts, kickbacks and the transfer of cash from the State accounts by unscrupulous employees in his inner circle.
In one instance he rigged the tendering process for state contracts in cahoots with his mistress Udoumaka Okoronkwo, who would be due to face confiscation proceedings alongside Ibori.

The couple used Okoronkwo’s companies Sagicon, Rivbbed and Saagaris - the latter of which their four-month old love-child was named as a director of - to ‘bid’ for inflated deals to provide items to the state including china and vehicles.
The money was then channelled out of Nigeria before it was laundered through a series of off-shore trusts and companies.

Ibori was also helped to steal the cash by his wife Theresa, sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, and a series of corrupt professionals - UK London based lawyer, Bhadresh Gohil, fiduciary agent Daniel Benedict McCann and corporate financier, Lambertus De Boer.

Ibori was also helped to steal the cash by his sister Christine Ibori-Ibie, whose plush home is pictured above, wife Theresa and a series of corrupt professionals including London based lawyer Bhadresh Gohil
The former state governor was arrested by officers from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria in December 2007. 

Two years later at a court in Ibori’s hometown in Asaba, 170 charges of corruption were dismissed on the basis that there was no clear evidence to convict.
The case was reopened in April 2010 by the EFCC before Ibori fled to Dubai. He was finally extradited back to the UK in April 2011.

Ibori admitted ten offences relating to conspiracy to launder funds from Delta State, substantive counts of money laundering and one count of obtaining a money transfer by deception and fraud.
He was excused from attending today’s hearing and Judge Anthony Pitts is expected to rule on Friday whether he will face a full confiscation hearing.

97 comments:

  1. First to comment....u don try ibori

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    1. Dis man have finish nigeria...God when will it be my own turn to steal £20billions from this country oil money....

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    2. If Oduaghan doesn't goto jail, deltans owe Ibori an apology, that man is worst...

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    3. All this politicians are thieves (except my uncle o!) How can 1 man own all this wealth,but menn money is good o! When u hv money u forget all ur problems.

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  2. bfore nko?? return fire. he will cum back frm dat jail nd live hapi afta eva.

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  3. I dis like this man #bright bravo#

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  4. This guy greedy mehn.... ahn ahn... you are very wicked sir. wetin come remain of d state?

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  5. Ojai says" y won't he return a penny. Is it that the money has all varnished or that he just dosent want to surrender any amount atall.

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  6. And Nigerians especially people from Delta are gonna keep singing this POS i.e Piece Of Shit praise, give him awards and worship him. Beats me how Nigerians think. Well Nigerians deserve the kind of leaders the get

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    1. Benito you are so right. Nigerians deserves the kind of leaders they get. Sometimes I'm ashamed of the so called masses

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  7. defending, said Ibori’s pleas of guilt were not an admission that he personally profited

    What The Fuck! See This Lady Having S*x With A Snake.. (viewer Discretion)

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  8. This man will still run for president some day. I'm sure he still runs Delta state from the prison.

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  9. Are you looking for a suger mummy or daddy please call dis line 08132333771 please be mature...

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  10. Shame on our judicial system that acquitted this man of all these charges he later owned up his guiltness in the UK. If not this white people won't be telling us this cock and bull story.

    ~BONARIO~says so via NOKIA3310

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  11. Men..Ibori is Fucking Rich,dis don kill Deltanz...why r our Politicians treating us like dis...2 bad..

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  12. This man will come out of prison and try to run for president and what will Nigerians do? NOTHING!

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  13. GOD ,,,,,SEE MONEY ,,which one i go use if he done thief all this ones

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  14. Oluwa miooo *faints*

    Ola

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  15. Y u dey tell us wetin we knw b4 them even jail d guy

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  16. Mak dem leav am jare na coz dem catch am? Odaz wey steal pass am nko?d man don suffer reach,mak em enjoy d smal wey remain fr am

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    1. @jbankze, You must be a very stupid thief like him for you to say that someone who steals so much from ur country shld be release,bloody idiot like u.the fact that he's been caught is enough for him to be punished and he will serve as a warning to others like him and am sure u'r also like him.bloody ole barawo like him, let him rot in jail who cares.nonsense

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  17. Omo! Na waya waya tinz o. #NoYahoo

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  18. dis is very shameful and Urhobo are calling him a hero.

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  19. If you put in account all the monies stolen by government officials, especially people like Abacha, Ibori and Bode George you realize that if this country was properly run, we'd all be millionaires!!

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    1. If all is a millionaire then who will serve and worship who in 9ja? The way 9ja is everybody is praying for opportunity to still massively and then wait for EFCC.

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  20. Bros, d evils dat men do live with dem. Happy jail!

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  21. Dis man kill us Oo°˚˚˚ , at list e beta pass Udu

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  22. click to earn! Http://www.earning4living.com/?share=44724

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  23. God will punish all of them.

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  24. Na wa ooooo. Hmmmm chief ononafe Ibori u finish delta state sha, when are we going to have credible leaders in this country?

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  25. Hmmm Ogidigbogbo of delta state lolzzz,still remember his campaign song dat year Hehehehehe.

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  26. Wow! He has to pay back.

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  27. The odidigborigbo of Africa!! Only you own those wealths! After sipping delta dry imagine a state so rich but its poor! I hope u rot in jail.

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  28. When are we gonna have good leaders ? Chief ononafe Ibori finished delta state money sha

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  29. Na wa ooooo. Hmmmm chief ononafe Ibori u finish delta state sha, when are we going to have credible leaders in this country?

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  30. He has done well! Enjoy your latest luxurious room mr Ibori.

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  31. Linda .shey later you will come and sha us his son or daughter's glamourous wedding.
    We all gave a tole to okay in not respecting these criminals
    ,

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  32. This proves the point: Nigerians like Ibori cannot make it in the Western world. It's just too difficult. Hence, these indolent brutes run home to defraud the common treasury in order to live like the fake "kings and queens" that they really are, at the expense of the community.

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  33. No be small money!

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  34. Omo..my beloved delta!

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  35. When God picks people from nothing and gives them the opportunity to utilize it effectively.They do not usually work it out well especially

    When there are no pains and struggles along the way to get such positions.

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  36. 10-15 yrs from now,I spot an Ibori bagging a centenary award....Then his wife would grant a defensive interview for her husbnd,describing what a doting patriotic man that he was to his country because he never stole a dime.....We get that family comes first and you would always want to defend your loved ones interest, buh you should also understand that their is a limit that you can launder a "muddified" public image.. His humble background sucks,, they have kleptomanicism running in their genes.. #cheezyjayne

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    1. I wish there is a like button

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    2. Very correct.

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  37. Omo dis guy don hama..rotfl

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  38. I cnt believe I came frm d same town with this thief nd my pple still celebrates him like a HERO. Indeed my pple sufa for d lack of knowledge. Let d fool rot in jail for all I care. Linda jst organise a fasting nd prayer for all d corrupt leaders so dy cn all die quickly so our beloved Nigeria cn get better

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    1. You all want him dead, but if you had the opportunity he had, only God know if u won't do worse, the my did things d present government has not yet done in delta state, hate me or not, he is d best dream any man can have, if ibori meets you one on one, u are blessed, mark my word, he will be free after d elections, shame on you killing your own person, cos the yoroba'd won't do so, the igbos will fight for him to be free, remember, he was not the only one, when was just the one who got caught

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  39. 30yrs jail tym should not pass him by abeg.....
    .
    .
    .
    ***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***

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  40. If you like hate or curse on this man but I tell you he is way better than the idiot we have currently as Governor.

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    1. I totally agree with u. I love Ibori. Even while in prison his birthday is celebrated every year.

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  41. Thief of life!

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  42. I love this gurl *cheezyjayne*. Always on point with her comments. Although, sometimes, biased, but not on this one. Keep it up gurl. U & cute babe or is it Cute girl she answers here. Ur command of English us dope. Both of u.

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  43. Dat serves him right. 13yrs id too small abeg

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  44. One Word to describe him...Criminal

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  45. Ibori wether u return it or nt my concern is nt dere, buh wat maters a lot is dat ur record don spoil. tif

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  46. When he comes back to Nigeria now our leaders will give him award. Big thiefs are respected in this part of the world.

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  47. Capital punishment is what we need in Nigeria to stop corruption. You can't try this in China or Thailand. It's either death sentence or life imprisonment.

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  48. Nigeria clearly lacks a strong, uncompromising judiciary that promotes the rule of law, irrespective of a person's standing in the society. Will the old brigade willingly give up its sense of entitlement? Not in a million years. So, what is the answer to this endemic and festering problem? Go figure it out.

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  49. If only mountain of fire ministries all round the globe cou hold a 7 day dry fast and prayers ov ths bastard head.....all the money he ever stole will be returnd.

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  50. ''He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have''.
    ― Socrates

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  51. @11.34 u r n some odas r d reason y nigerian is stil bkwrd,wen u describe d likes of ibori u dnt use d word ,gud or beta#rubbish#,ignornt delta people ibori feeds u crumbs n cal him alpha,uduahagah repairs roads n builds school una say he neva try reach una wan c moni.Souls sold out for little penny#shakin my head

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  52. He should have been considered for the centenary award.



    ~~Success Has No Limitation~~

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  53. Our most corrupt leaders...B#*t. a#* b#*tches

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  54. Jesus Christ so James Ibori did this to delta state *crying bitterly*and some fools are still praising,singing his name all over d state even celebrating his birthday.some are even calling him d best Governor ever.i pity my pple.while we were attending sch with no seats in Delta his Children are in d best schs abroad,while our parents was struggling for one square meal a day himsef,wife n mistress was wasting money on houses,car e.t.c.i jst wish my deltans brethren eyes be open.God pls help us

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  55. The real question is how is this thieving store cashier become so important in Nigeria...

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  56. Smh..."collected" so much...nd he gets 2 kip it,he tried in d development of delta sha,still a far better governor dan uduaghan...(•_•)

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  57. Ibori will neva be as broke as dangote whern he returns......hahahahahaaha

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  58. I still wonder why he won't pay back. Anyways, the ones that haven't been caught are even richer. He already had a criminal record in the UK and he went back there spening money with reckless abandon, how smart.

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  59. How can they say he didn't benefit from the fraud,haba wetin that 1 mean.

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  60. abi UK govt don pocket the money cos they know we are so eager to believe anything negative from our own.

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  61. All of una wey dey comment if na una dey dat post una go do pass dat one.

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  62. Its so shameful that after all this stealing Oghara people and Delta State people still celebrate this thief that has contributed to the subjecting so many people to poverty.....Pls follow Deltas make una shine una eyes pray make this thief no come back alive......And those when still dey steal our moni now like Ibori na so God go dey punish una one by one....Thunder kill all this useless and wicked people stealing Nigeria money.

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  63. Nigeria boat is sinking in Indian ocean

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  64. Is he d only person dat hv stoled? We wnt to knw abt oda former Governors

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  65. Hope his british accomplices are getting jail time too. and if the possessions are confiscated who claims them.

    Cinematographers house with Yinka Edwards

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  66. Ibori thief man, let him get out ole

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  67. If its you linda what are u going to do remain in jail and come out after with plenty of money or hand over the money and remain poor for the rest of your life.

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  68. All of you judging him don't be stupid, don't feel smart, all the governors are stealing, this one didn't even steal up to half of what Igbinedion stole from Edo. The only reason he was put in jail was because of a falling out with goodluck. He was just a scape goat.

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  69. I'm getting sick of this waiting for "the leaders we deserve". At some point we're going to have to stand up to our current leaders and resist the oppression their corruption is causing. When will enough be enough? We need to pull off a revolution against these apes

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  70. mouth sealed! once he cums back 4rm uk,dey will name a stadium afta him.later,we will gif him a presidential pardon (like alamaeyisa) and den contest 4 senate. Naija,na like ds we go dey live? until we do d needful,ds country will remain like ds.

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  71. God help us, I tell u my peeps if only the youths can come together as one and protest for our rights I believe things will be better. It amuzes me how everyone just sit in their comfort zone and curse these people am telling u it wont make a change, we have to learn how to stand for our rights if only we know our rights, youths re suppose to be given slots to run for GOvt post, be appointed as ministers etc, all they make us do is hate our selves and expose us to diff crimes like prostitution, robbery, 419 etc and they go ahead with their money to sleep with girls/boys who are old enough to be their children, Enough is Enough!!!!!!!! United we stand

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  72. I'm sure some Deltans were among those cursing Stella Oduah here for buying bullet proof cars for the office of the minister.

    A minister that worked out wetin eye see o.

    Kettle calling pot black.

    Mtcshew!

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  73. There is no peace for the wicked even if they steal the whole country. God will judge all of them speedily if they don't repent.

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  74. I don't blame him at all tho, assuming we had a smart justice system and intelligent agencies who would have caught him from the beginning. Most of us would have done worse things he didn't just cover his tracks enough. #smart thief#corruptsystem#failed justice system#

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  75. Let us all admit that Nigerians at all levels are a bunch of thieves. If the man gives it all back, someone is waiting in line to steal it all over again. What a circle of pain and misery. All self inflicted.

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  76. I'm ashamed to be a nigerian. Or is it citizen of united state of songhai

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  77. he is a smart thief hmmm his problem - being greedy OMO after all that theft he still no tire - one last transaction and he was nabbed!! more than £153 million Jesus he was working with the networth of some US celebrities! I don't know what to say - the love of money!! God help your children with contentment! Sit with what you have. Now that he is eing tried in England omoooo his own is almost over

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  78. i remain baffled that our fellow punch and this day newspapers always fail to run a background check on all politicians who want to run for a post in the public office. even our so called press. lind including u. maybe if we incorporate this we would be able to choose better leaders.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the comment writers alone and does not reflect or represent the views of Linda Ikeji.

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