James Ibori
A British prosecutor has told a confiscation hearing at the Southwark Crown Court in London that the jailed former Governor of Nigeria's Delta State - James Ibori hid some of his assets in the oil firm Oando and money passed from the company's accounts to Ibori's Swiss accounts.
Prosecutors are expected to present evidence of Ibori's assets and seek court orders to have them seized at the three-week hearing.
Prosecutor Sasha Wass told the court she would be presenting evidence that Ibori had "asserted ownership of a large part" of Oando, Nigeria's biggest home-grown oil firm which is listed in Lagos, Johannesburg and Toronto.
Ibori, who governed Delta State from 1999 to 2007 and influenced national politics, was jailed for 13 years in Britain after pleading guilty in February 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering worth 50 million pounds ($79 million).
At the time of Ibori's sentencing in April 2012, Judge Anthony Pitts said the 50 million pounds that he had admitted to stealing may be a "ludicrously low" fraction of his total booty, which could be more than 200 million pounds.
During his sentencing hearing, the court heard Ibori had acquired six foreign properties worth 6.9 million pounds, a fleet of luxury cars including a Bentley and a Maybach 62, and that he had tried to buy a $20-million private jet. His three daughters were attending a private school in rural England.
The confiscation hearing will shed further light on the scale of Ibori's wealth and determine whether he emerges from jail impoverished or still in possession of a large enough fortune to regain a position of influence in Nigeria.
Ibori could be released as early as 2016 because he spent two years in custody before his sentencing and because he will be eligible for parole halfway through his prison term.
Oando is not a party to the case, although a British lawyer - Andrew Baillie was in court representing the company's interests.
A spokesman for Oando in Lagos said that in 2004, the company had sold $2.7 million of its foreign exchange earnings for naira in three transactions over about seven months with a company that had turned out to be controlled by Ibori. Oando did not know at the time that Ibori was behind the company, he said.
The spokesman also said that at present, Ibori had an "insignificant" shareholding in Oando.