A Former Ghanaian Goldman Sachs Banker, Ellias Preko, has been ordered by a UK court to pay £7.3m to the British treasury or face 10 more years in jail. My News Ghana reports
A UK court presided over by Judge David Tomlisonon Monday, September 2nd ordered Mr. Preko to return the money in three months.
Mr. Preko who has been in jail for four and a half years is facing the charges for helping a former Nigerian governor of Delta State, James Ibori to launder money in offshore accounts.
The 60-year-old Harvard graduate was believed to have abused his ‘gold-plated credentials’ to launder at least £3m plundered by Ibori, from Delta state treasury.
Ibori, who governed Delta between 1999 and 2007 was estimated to have pocketed up to £160 million from government treasuries, depriving the state’s poor of the cash.
Facing court on Monday, Mr. Preko, who represented himself told the court that much of the cash had been spent on election campaigning back in his native Ghana.
He said he had run as a candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) back in the mid-2000s.
Preko explained that Ghana is predominantly a cash-based society and that few receipts exist for his campaign spending.
A UK court presided over by Judge David Tomlisonon Monday, September 2nd ordered Mr. Preko to return the money in three months.
Mr. Preko who has been in jail for four and a half years is facing the charges for helping a former Nigerian governor of Delta State, James Ibori to launder money in offshore accounts.
The 60-year-old Harvard graduate was believed to have abused his ‘gold-plated credentials’ to launder at least £3m plundered by Ibori, from Delta state treasury.
Ibori, who governed Delta between 1999 and 2007 was estimated to have pocketed up to £160 million from government treasuries, depriving the state’s poor of the cash.
Facing court on Monday, Mr. Preko, who represented himself told the court that much of the cash had been spent on election campaigning back in his native Ghana.
He said he had run as a candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) back in the mid-2000s.
Preko explained that Ghana is predominantly a cash-based society and that few receipts exist for his campaign spending.