The United Kingdom Court of Appeal has rejected former Delta State governor James Ibori’s challenge to the inflation-related uplift applied to a £101.51 million confiscation order.
Appeal Focused on Inflation Adjustment
Ibori sought to cut the order by roughly £4.3 million, arguing that the “change in value of money” (CVM) adjustment was unfair because frozen accounts could not earn interest.
His appeal was limited to the application of the “change in value of money” adjustment, known as CVM, which is used to reflect changes in the value of money over time when calculating criminal benefit.
Court’s Reasoning on the CVM Uplift
The three-judge panel—Lord Justice Andrew Popplewell, Mr Justice Simon Bryan and Judge Nicholas Dean KC—held that applying the CVM uplift aligns with the confiscation regime and does not constitute a disproportionate interference with property rights.
“There is nothing disproportionate in applying the CVM uplift to assets subject to a restraint order merely because they have not increased in value by as much as the CVM, or at all, when restrained,” the court said.
The court rejected that argument, holding that the confiscation regime is concerned with the value of the criminal benefit obtained and requires that value to be reflected in present-day monetary terms.
They also noted that a confiscation order may be satisfied from any assets the defendant possesses, regardless of whether those assets stem from the crime or from legitimate sources.
According to the judgment, the lengthy delay in the case resulted from Ibori’s persistent resistance to the making of the order, not from procedural shortcomings.
Court Remarks on Asset Sources and Restraint Impact
They said the fact that Ibori might have to meet part of the inflation-adjusted amount from other assets was irrelevant to the calculation of the criminal benefit. The court also noted that the restraint orders arose from Ibori’s criminal conduct and concerns that assets could be dissipated before the conclusion of confiscation proceedings.
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According to the judges, the impact of the restraint on some of the accounts could have been avoided had Ibori acknowledged the relevant funds as criminal proceeds and agreed to surrender them earlier.
Details of the Account Categories
The first category involved four Nigerian bank accounts that, according to Ibori’s counsel, earned no interest. The CVM adjustment attributed to those accounts was £10,265.17.
The court said the evidence did not clearly establish when the accounts became effectively frozen or the precise period for which the adjustment applied, adding that it was more likely than not that the accounts had remained accessible to Ibori for years after the underlying frauds.
The second category comprised seven accounts held by investment companies in Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, Austria and Nigeria, holding about £12.49 million.
The court found that those accounts were not themselves the criminal benefit on which the confiscation calculation was based. Instead, the relevant benefit related to funds paid into three Access Bank accounts in Nigeria in 2006. The judges therefore held that Ibori’s argument in relation to those later accounts was misconceived.
Final Ruling and Next Steps
Ibori served as governor of Delta State from 1999 to 2007, was extradited from the United Arab Emirates in 2011, and pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy to defraud and money-laundering, receiving a 13-year sentence.
Confiscation proceedings continued after his conviction, culminating in a July 2023 Crown Court at Southwark order that set the criminal benefit at £101,514,315.21.
The recent judgment addressed only the inflation adjustment; it did not revisit the underlying conviction. The order remains enforceable, and Ibori has indicated he is consulting lawyers about a possible appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
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