Comfort Oji Ibori of Otefe in Oghara clan, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, he attended Baptist High School, Oghareki, now Oghareki Grammar School, before proceeding to the University of Benin where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Statistics.
[6] Returning to Nigeria, between 1994 and 1997 he served as a consultant to the Federal Government of President Sani Abacha, in the areas of public policy formulation and implementation.
[7] Ibori's corruption charges started with filling of petitions by his kinsmen under the auspices of Delta State Elders and Stateholders Forum influenced by the foremost Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, OFR , CON who was also the former Minister of Information.
Hidden in a wall behind a fireplace, they found computer hard drives containing details of a myriad off-shore companies, run for Ibori by Gohil, fiduciary agent Daniel Benedict McCann, and corporate financier Lambertus De Boer.
[8] His wife, Nkoyo, was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on 1 November 2007, in connection with the probe of her husband's assets, particularly in the United Kingdom.
[10] On 12 December 2007, Ibori was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Kwara State Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja.
These corruption charges brought against Ibori by the government of former President Obasanjo are among many allegations by anticorruption czar Nuhu Ribadu against former officials of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP.
[12] On 17 December 2009, A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State, discharged and acquitted Ibori of all 170 charges of corruption brought against him by EFCC.
[13] The EFCC filed a notice of appeal against 17 December 2009 judgement, and began a new round of investigations on the former governor following a petition by members of the Delta State Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders Forum, which was made available to the public in March 2010.
Prosecutors alleged that companies owned by Ibori and his family were beneficiaries from the sale of state assets, including shares in a mobile telephone operator, as well as crude oil deliveries.
On 1 and 2 June 2010, UK juries found James Ibori's sister, Christine Ibie-Ibori[34] and his associate, Udoamaka Okoronkwo, guilty on counts of money laundering, in a verdict delivered at the Southwark Crown Court, London.
[35] Mr. James Ibori, via his media aide released a statement questioning the validity of the verdict which he claimed absolved the two other women, Ms Okoronkwo and Adebimpe Pogoson who were charged alongside his sister.
[37] Christine Ibie-Ibori and Udoamaka Okoronkwo were each sentenced to 5 years in prison on Monday 7 June 2010 by the UK court even as the defense counsel pleaded for mercy that the convicts were merely manipulated by James Ibori.
[38] On 27 February 2012, accused of stealing US$250 million from the Nigerian public purse, Ibori pleaded guilty to ten counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud at Southwark Crown Court, London.