Convicted Nigerian fraudster James Ibori wins £1 from UK
Convicted fraudster and former
Nigerian state governor James Ibori has been awarded £1 ($1.30) for
being unlawfully detained for 42 hours in the UK.
Ibori was jailed in the UK for fraud totalling nearly £50m in 2012.
He was due to be released on 20 December but instead was held in immigration detention.
After
he was released he launched his claim against the Home Secretary Amber
Rudd for damages for false imprisonment and breach of his rights.
On Monday Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the home secretary had been
"wrong throughout her dealings with Mr Ibori over the weeks leading to
his release" and that he had been unlawfully detained.
However, she rejected Ibori's claim for £4,000 in damages. Instead she awarded "nominal damages" of £1.
The
judge also said that the decision to keep him in immigration detention
was probably because of millions of pounds the authorities have still
not recovered from him.
A Home Office email, published in the
court judgement, recommended to keep him in immigration detention to buy
time to work out how to recover at least £57m.
"The best course
of action at present is to place him in immigration detention and review
the position in February or when we know more about the confiscation
process", it said.
On 21 December a High Court judge ordered his immediate release from prison. Ibori eventually left the UK in February.
Who is James Ibori?
James Ibori went from
petty thief to Nigerian state governor to convicted money launderer. He
came to the UK in the 1980s and worked as a cashier at a DIY store in
London.
He was convicted in 1991 of stealing from the store but then returned to Nigeria and got involved in politics.
When
he ran for Delta State governor he lied about his date of birth to hide
his UK conviction - which would have prevented him standing for office.
He became governor in 1999 and soon began taking money from state coffers.
The
British police began to take an interest in Ibori again in 2005 after
they came across a purchase order for a private jet, made through his
solicitor in London.
He evaded capture in Nigeria after a mob of
supporters attacked police, but was arrested in Dubai in 2010 and was
extradited to the UK.
BBC
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