A FORMER postal worker has been jailed for money laundering after an investigation into the corrupt activities of a former Nigerian governor.

Rowland Nakanda, 54, of Tyne Gardens, South Ockendon, has been handed a two-and-a-half year prison sentence.

He was implicated in a wider inquiry into the activities of James Ibori, the former governor of Nigeria’s Delta State, from 1999 to 2007.

Both Ibori and his wife Teresa, who is Nakanda’s brother, were convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2012 and given a combined 18 years in prison.

When they were convicted, Nakanda became guardian of the Ibori’s three children.

Police identified the Ibori children, despite their parents’ convictions, were being educated at a private school and it was established that Nakanda had continued to pay the considerable school fees.

Enquiries revealed that he had paid the fees to the school’s bank account in cash over the counter through his local Lloyds bank in Grays.

CCTV revealed that on one day alone, Nakanda paid over £15,000 in cash for the fees of two of the children.

A financial investigation was able to trace £350,000 in unexplained cash deposits going through Nakanda’s accounts following the convictions of the Iboris.

The investigation was undertaken by the Met Police’s former proceeds of corruption unit, now part of the National Crime Agency.

Nakanda was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday after a month-long trial.

Rupert Broad, who was a detective inspector in the unit, said: “Rowland Nakanda previously worked for the Royal Mail and lived a modest lifestyle with his wife in Essex.

“I am pleased that we were able to demonstrate that Nakanda knew that the money he was dealing with was the proceeds of criminal conduct and had originated from James Ibori’s corrupt activity during his governorship of Delta State.

“This sentence should act as a warning that we will go after everyone involved in fraudulent activity, however complex and wide-reaching the fraud."

Nine people have now been convicted of money laundering in linked cases, receiving sentences totalling more than 50 years.

Nakanda was acquitted of cheating the Revenue, while his wife, Chifu Nakanda, was cleared of all charges.