LONDON — London police arrested one of the force's anti-corruption officers and three former officers Wednesday in an investigation of alleged bribery by a company working for an ex-governor of Nigeria's oil-rich Delta state who pleaded guilty to fraud charges.
The serving officer was arrested on suspicion of receiving money for information, and the three former officers were arrested on suspicion of bribery, according to statements from the Metropolitan Police. All four were being questioned.
The arrests are related to a long-running and successful police investigation of James Ibori, the former Nigerian governor who pleaded guilty to charges linked to the theft of money from the state and fraud involving state-owned shares in a mobile phone firm. He was sentenced last month to 13 years in prison.
Mike Schwarz, a lawyer who represented one of Ibori’s associates, lawyer Bhadresh Gohil, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that he suspected that illegal payments were made by employees of Risc Management Ltd. The company had been hired to assist Ibori’s defense. Schwarz told the committee that he had seen records of possible cash payments made by Risc to sources who were "presumably police officers or those close to the investigation."
Records showed several payments amounting to around 20,000 pounds ($32,000).
In addition to Ibori, British prosecutors won convictions against Gohil; Ibori’s wife, Theresa; his sister, Christine Ibori-Ibie; his mistress, Udoamaka Oniugbo; a financial agent, Daniel Benedict McCann; and corporate financier Lambertus De Boer.
