British prosecutors launched an attempt on Thursday to confiscate 30.8 million pounds ($39.3 million) from a London lawyer who assisted a Nigerian politician in looting and laundering funds from the oil state he governed.
Bhadresh Gohil was convicted in 2010 of 13 counts of money-laundering and other offences linked to his role in the case of James Ibori, who was governor of Delta State in southern Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. Gohil was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Then a partner at a firm in the London district of Mayfair, Gohil had helped Ibori channel stolen funds through shell companies and offshore accounts, and buy assets such as an English country house and a $20 million private jet - although police caught up with the men before the jet was delivered.
Gohil also masterminded a fraud in which $37 million in fake consultancy fees was stolen from two Nigerian states in connection with the sale of their stakes in a telecoms company.
With its highly developed financial and legal services industries, Britain has long been a favoured destination for people seeking to launder dirty money.
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