A former UK-based building contractor has given fresh details on the renovation and management of luxury London properties allegedly linked to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, as her bribery trial continued at Southwark Crown Court.
The witness, Tony Mulcahy, a former director of Bear Rock Construction Ltd, told the court that his firm carried out major refurbishment works between 2011 and 2014 on high-value properties said to have been used by Alison-Madueke and her family.
Mulcahy said the projects were arranged through Nigerian businessman Kolawole Aluko and included extensive works at a property on Chester Close North, London, where a residential lift was installed for the comfort of Alison-Madueke’s mother. He estimated the total cost of the renovation at about £2m.
He told the jury that he had direct interactions with the former minister, including meetings at the properties to select materials and exchanges of text messages over design details, adding that he had her personal telephone number.
The contractor said his company suffered severe financial pressure due to repeated delays in payment, describing a cycle of unfulfilled promises that nearly forced Bear Rock Construction out of business by late 2013.
According to him, a delivery of luxury items from Harrods was temporarily withheld as leverage after a promised £200,000 payment failed to arrive on schedule, though the money was eventually paid.
He added that further outstanding debts in 2014 prompted him to personally deliver a letter to Alison-Madueke’s London residence.
Prosecutors allege that the luxury properties, renovations and associated expenses formed part of bribes offered to Alison-Madueke by business figures seeking influence in Nigeria’s oil sector, an allegation the former minister and her co-defendants have denied before the court.