A police officer, Det Sgt John McDonald, has been removed from an anti-corruption unit of the United Kingdom, UK, for allegedly receiving bribe to disclose information about a case against former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori.
While the police officer has denied any wrongdoing, the Crown Prosecution Service, CPS, which previously denied claims it had not handed over all key evidence, says it has intelligence which “supports the assertion” the Met officer was paid for information.
It would be recalled that the former Governor was in 2012 jailed for 13 years for laundering millions in the UK through the purchase of property, a fleet of armoured Range Rovers and a £120,000 Bentley.
The conviction of Ibori is seen as the prize for the British government anti-corruption campaign initiated by the Department for International Development, DfID, 10 years ago.
Det Sgt McDonald, who is accused of receiving payment in return for providing information about the case, headed the police investigation into the case.
The BBC reports that he has been removed from the National Crime Agency’s International Corruption Unit, where he had been on secondment. He has returned to the Met, where a review of his status has begun.
According to the report, the CPS has also replaced the prosecution team involved in ongoing cases connected to the Ibori affair, although it stressed the lawyers still retained its full confidence.
