Former Delta state governor, James Ibori, has been implicated in a massive leak of documents that has so far exposed the corrupt dealings of 12 current and former world leaders, politicians and celebrities.

Ibori, who is currently serving a 12 year sentence in the United Kingdom for international money laundering, is said to have bought a shell company from a Panamanian provider of offshore companies, Mossack Fonseca, to evade taxes and launder money allegedly stolen from the coffers of Delta State.

Mossack Fonseca, which has dozens of offices all over the world, sells its shell firms in cities such as Zurich, London, and Hong Kong – in some instances at bargain prices.

The firm is said to have created a shell company named Stanhope Investment, for Ibori and also appointed Directors to the said company, while concealing the identity of Ibori and other shareholders of the dubious company, thus protecting them from detection and possible prosecution for violation of international and domestic laws.

The shell company allegedly created for Ibori has the International Business Commission (IBC) No: 018603.

The revelation was made by the the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other news organizations around the world.

According to ICIJ, “Clients of Mossack Fonseca can buy an anonymous company for as little as USD 1,000. However, at this price it is just an empty shell. For an extra fee, the firm provides a sham director and, if desired, conceals the company’s true shareholder.”

“The result is an offshore company whose true purpose and ownership structure is indecipherable from the outside. Mossack Fonseca has founded, sold, and managed thousands of companies. The documents provide a detailed view of how Mossack Fonseca routinely accepts to engage in business activities that potentially violate sanctions, in addition to aiding and abetting tax evasion and money laundering.”

The massive document leak and investigation has so far implicated more than 128 politicians around the world, including the king of Saudi Arabia and the children of the president of Azerbaijan.

In 2008, the British Crown court had written to the Attorney General of Seychelles asking for more information on the business dealings of Ibori.

The Attorney General had on April 14 2008, forwarded the request for information on the rogue company to Mossack Fonseca.

Mossack Fonseca collaborated with the British government and provided information and documents on the company within the stipulated time.

It is unclear, however, how much help the company gave the British government as it stepped down as registered agent/office to James Ibori’s shell company in 2012 -four years after the money laundering investigation of Ibori began.