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ON NOW : Newshour
22/05/2013

Newshour Interviews, news and analysis of the day's global events.

ON NEXT : 22:01 BBC News

Assignment

Image for The King of Corruption

Play now 25 mins

The King of Corruption

Duration:
25 minutes
First broadcast:
Thursday 28 June 2012

The former Nigerian state governor James Ibori was sentenced to jail by a British court earlier this year.

He was among a number of high profile politicians facing charges in Nigeria where corruption is rife: governors from more than half of Nigeria's 36 states have been implicated.

For Assignment Peter Marshall talks to those who worked on the Ibori case, including members of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and officers from Britain's Metropolitan Police.

He explains how Mr Ibori went from working as a humble check-out assistant at a hardware store in London to become the 'King of Corruption', the mastermind behind the world's biggest money-laundering scam.

James Ibori made friends with people in high places and tried to bribe his way out of trouble, offering his pursuers $15m in cash if they would leave him alone.

Mr Ibori, his wife and his sister have all been jailed, along with his London lawyer.

(Image: James Ibori speaking with a reporter in 2003. Credit: Jacob Silberberg / AFP / Getty Images)

  • James Ibori: How a thief almost became Nigeria's president

    James Ibori: How a thief almost became Nigeria's president

    The story of how James Ibori went from convicted thief in London in the 1990s, to become governor of a wealthy oil-producing Nigerian state and then to a British prison is a remarkable one

    Read more on the BBC news website

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