FinCEN Files: Ibori’s connection haunting Nigeria’s top oil firm, Oando PLC, in America

After the Metropolitan Police linked it with Mr Ibori in 2012, Oando had defended itself, saying Mr Ibori’s shareholding of the Company at the time was approximately 400 shares.

Anti-money laundering authorities in the United States have been keeping tabs on the operations of a top Nigerian oil company, Oando PLC, because of the company’s alleged ties with convicted former governor of Delta State, James Ibori.

The revelation is contained in leaked documents, otherwise known as #FinCEN Files, which are reports of suspicious transactions filed by banks with the U.S Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

#FinCEN Files, a new global investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, BuzzFeed and 108 media partners across the world, including osprimetv, are a large volume of confidential financial reports relating to the transaction activities of world leaders, terrorists, drug dealers and money launderers.

The investigation involved 16-month collaborative work involving more than 400 journalists, including those from PREMIUM TIMES, in 88 countries.

The files included a large number of suspicious-activity reports, SARs, filed by banks and other financial institutions to the US Government as required by the Bank Secrecy Act., with the total amount in suspicious transactions reported being $2 trillion ($2,099584,477,415.49).

In the case of Oando, it was the alleged link with Mr Ibori that triggered the flagging of the company’s transactions as suspicious.

Mr Ibori pleaded guilty to fraud and money-laundering charges in 2012 in a London court. He was sentenced to 13 years in jail and has since been released.

He is believed to have laundered more than N12.5 billion (£50 million), stolen from the treasury of Delta State, a largely rich but impoverished Nigerian oil-rich state, during his tenure as governor.