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Assignment: The King of Corruption

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The King of Corruption

28/06/2012

BBC World Service - Assignment, The King of Corruption

Assignment tells the story of the world's biggest money laundering scam.

In Assignment Peter Marshall talks to the law enforcement officers who secured the conviction of James Ibori, one time governor of Nigeria's oil rich Delta State.

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)

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