… Oando Admits It Moved Funds To Ibori’s Swiss Account But Denies The Politician Owns Substantial Stake In Company
… Mr. Tinubu And Ibori Have a History Of Business Dealings
SAN FRANCISCO, September 16, (THEWILL) – British prosecutor, Sasha Wass, Monday told a Southwark Crown Court in London that Chief James Ibori, a former governor of Delta State, who is presently serving a jail term in the United Kingdom, stashed away some of his assets in Oando, a controversial Nigerian indigenous oil company listed on the Nigerian, Johannesburg and Canadian stock exchanges.
Wass made the allegation which she says the State will prove in the course of the assets confiscation hearing against Ibori, who governed Delta State from 1999 to 2007.
THEWILL can however authoritatively report that Oando’s chief executive officer, Mr. Wale Tinubu and Ibori are close and have done businesses together in the past. (Full details to be published subsequently).
The powerful and influential politician was jailed for 13 years in Britain after pleading guilty in February 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering to the tune of about $79 million.
The hearing is scheduled to last for about 3 weeks.
Wass told the court she would be presenting evidence that Ibori had “asserted ownership of a large part” of Oando.
“The Crown will assert that Oando is a company where Ibori has hidden assets,” Wass said, giving no further details according to a Reuters report.
The matter, it was gathered, was raised briefly as part of an initial discussion of various aspects of the confiscation hearing.
Wass and his team will present evidence of Ibori’s assets that they must prove was acquired through stolen funds from Delta so as to get court orders to seize them.
Ibori’s lawyers led by Ivan Krolick, will however likely dispute whatever evidence is presented.
British lawyer, Andrew Baillie represented Oando in court on Monday though the company is not a party in the case.
But Oando in an attempt to spin the damaging revelation issued a statement immediately admitting that it had three foreign exchange transactions over a seven-month period in 2004 with a company registered in Switzerland which it didn’t know was controlled by James Ibori. Oando said it sold $2.7 million dollars to the company in exchange for naira.
It described the allegation that Ibori hid his assets in the company as incorrect and misleading.
Oando was however silent on the relationship between its CEO and the politician.
“The total amount was US$2.7 million made in three separate transactions over a period of about seven months. This amount was insignificant considering the company’s turnover of approximately US$800million in 2004.
“Based on our current shareholding register, Ibori’s shareholding stands at 443 shares out of a total issued and paid up share capital of 6.8 billion ordinary shares, which is clearly insignificant, and cannot be considered as ‘a large part of Oando…
“The above constitutes the only transactions between Oando and any company controlled by Ibori. Consequently, Oando cannot be described as a company where James Ibori has hidden assets as a result of these foreign exchange transactions,” the company said in the statement.
