Walter Wagbatsoma, Nigerian Oil Magnate Sent to Jail in UK

Walter Wagbatsoma

Nigerian businessman, Walter Wagbatsoma, 47, was on Wednesday sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment for money laundering in the United Kingdom.

Wagbatsoma was also disqualified from being a company director for six years.

A Nigerian court last year had sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment for fuel subsidy fraud .

According to Lincolnshire police, the convict fraudulently obtained funds in the UK were laundered through an account in Dubai under the control of a co-conspirator Oluwatoyin Allison, a UK national who was convicted in his absence at an earlier trial in April 2017 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

The funds were then transferred to Wagbatsoma’s account in the UK. Following a trial at Leicester Crown Court, a 13th defendant has been convicted of conspiracy to launder money in an international fraud and money laundering investigation.

This investigation was conducted by Lincolnshire Police Economic Crime Unit under Operation Tarlac, in which over £12m was defrauded from public bodies including hospital trusts, housing associations and councils around the UK.

Wagbatsoma was originally detained on a European Arrest Warrant in June 2016 while travelling through Germany. He was extradited soon afterwards and charged with conspiring with others to launder the proceeds of fraud through his business interests in the UK.
Wagbatsoma, an oil and gas businessman, was on trial in Nigeria at the time of his arrest for his part in a £1.9 billion oil subsidy fraud for which he was convicted and sentenced in his absence to 10-years imprisonment in January last year.

This is the third criminal trial for this operation and follows the successful conviction of 12 other defendants in the investigation which began with a complaint of fraud from Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust in September 2011, in which £1.28m was fraudulently obtained by the gang. Subsequently, a further 20 linked offences was identified resulting in losses of £12.6m.

After a four-year investigation, those convicted have received prison sentences in excess of 50-years and proceedings are underway to recover the gains of the conspiracy under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Knubley, who heads Lincolnshire Police’s Economic Crime Unit, says officers painstakingly unravelled complicated trails of money transactions using financial data and other undisclosed techniques.
“We have got the convictions and now we are interested in recovering the equivalent cash and assets to the amount that the criminals benefitted”, Llincolnshirelive quoted him as saying.

“We have already commenced proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act and that can take up to three years to go through.
“We are really pleased with the results of this investigation. It concerned public money and it was really satisfying to put some serious criminals in prison. That, and protecting the public, is the job we do and the reason we joined.”
Knubley said it has been a tough case to crack.

He said: “Money would go out of the country to Dubai and eventually end up back in an account via a number of other accounts.
“It was a real challenge but we have some really clever people in the economic crime unit.
“It wasn’t as easy as following money from an account – the conspirators tried to show it had come from legitimate companies but we were able to show it had not.

“Wagbatsoma personally received a total of £480,000 from four of the frauds including Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust which came in 15 different payments.”

Deputy Chief Constable Craig Naylor said: “For a small force, this investigation shows that officers in our Economic Crime department have shown real endeavour and determination in investigating what is a huge money laundering and fraud offence.

“Operation Tarlac has now seen 13 individuals given lengthy prison sentences for their part in an international offence, which has had a national impact on public bodies in the UK. As a force, we have achieved a significant impact against organised crime in this investigation and this shows the hard work by our officers.

“Proceedings are now underway to recover a large amount of money, and I want to personally thank partners for their support and co-operation with us in this investigation and congratulate my officers and staff on a job well done.”

Culled from Thisday

Porn star Stormy Daniels opens up about 'generic sex' with Donald Trump just months after Melania gave birth

Details of the alleged affair have come to light in a newly-released interview, given in 2011 before the adult actress was reportedly paid £100,000 hush money

By

Christopher Bucktin

• 
  

The porn star who allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump has told how the President began their relationship just months after his wife Melania gave birth to their son.
Adult actress Stormy Daniels, who was allegedly paid £100,000 weeks before the 2016 election not to discuss her time with the US leader , claims he was terrible in bed.
“[The sex] was textbook generic,” Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said in an interview with US magazine InTouch magazine in 2011.
It “was nothing crazy. It was one position, what you would expect someone his age to do.”
The seven-year-old interview was published for the first time yesterday after allegations emerged last week that Trump’s personal lawyer brokered a deal for her never to speak again.

Stormy Daniels claims she had sex with Donald Trump months after his wife Melania gave birth to their son (Image: FilmMagic)

Donald Trump denies the allegations (Image: AFP)

But before accepting the supposed payment weeks before Trump was elected the “Good Will Humping” star had already discussed her alleged liaison with Trump with InTouch.
She and the billionaire businessman met at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada in 2006 — after Trump had married Melania and when their son, Barron, was just three months old, she said.
Clifford said she agreed to go back to his hotel room, where she says she teased him about his hair and he evaded her questions about Melania.
“He goes, ‘Oh, don’t worry about her,’” she recalled.
Eventually, Trump began pressuring her to get closer to him.

The adult actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said the sex was "generic" (Image: Getty Images North America)

“He was sitting on the bed, and he was like, ‘Come here.’ And I was like, ‘Ugh, here we go,’ and we started kissing,” she said.
“I actually don’t even remember why I did it, but I do remember while we were having sex, I was like, ‘Please don’t try to pay me.’ And then I remember thinking, ‘But I bet if he did, it would be a lot,”’ she said, according to the mag.
Afterward, he asked her to sign a copy of her X-rated film “3 Wishes,” Clifford, 38, said.
She said the now President became “smitten” and started calling her every 10 days, promising to get her on The Apprentice and referring to her as “honeybunch,” she said.

She says Trump told her 'not to worry' about his wife Melania (Image: Getty Images North America)

She also recalls Trump comparing her to his daughter, Ivanka.
“He told me once that I was someone to be reckoned with, beautiful and smart just like his daughter,” Daniels said.
Despite the then-60-year-old Trump’s unremarkable performance between the sheets, the pair continued to meet up, including in his office at Trump Tower in 2007.
“Whether you’re a fan of his or not, which I never really was, you gotta admit he’s pretty fascinating,” she said of their relationship. “We had really good banter.”

The porn star says she was paid £100,000 to keep quiet (Image: Getty Images North America)

Responding to the claims Clifford received “hush money” the White House said last week: “These are old, recycled reports, which were published and strongly denied prior to the election.”
They refused to answer questions about a possible payment made to Clifford, who performed in around 150 porn films, including “Dirty Deeds,” “Nymphos” and “Good Will Humping,” an XXX-rated spoof of the flick “Good Will Hunting.”
Lawyer Michael Cohen, who is alleged to have brokered the deal with the porn star, also refused to talk about money.
He said: “President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms Daniels.”
“This is now the second time that you are raising outlandish allegations against my client. You have attempted to perpetuate this false narrative for over a year; a narrative that has been consistently denied by all parties since at least 2011,” Cohen added.
The president has repeatedly said that all of the more than a dozen women who’ve accused him of sexual misconduct or assault are liars.
Mirror News