KEY POINTS

• A Londoner investigation links late Access Bank CEO Herbert Wigwe to 106 London properties.
• The probe examined 32,611 overseas-held properties, made possible by a UK beneficial ownership law.
• The investigation documents ownership only and does not allege wrongdoing.

A sweeping new investigation into offshore property ownership in London has linked the late Herbert Wigwe, former Group Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank, to 106 properties in the British capital, revealing a London real estate footprint considerably larger than anything previously reported about the Nigerian banking titan who died in a California helicopter crash in February 2024.

The Herbert Wigwe London properties finding comes from The Londoner, a publication that examined 32,611 properties across the British capital held by overseas entities. Critically, the investigation became possible because of a UK legal reform that now requires overseas entities to formally declare their beneficial owners, a transparency requirement that has opened up offshore property networks to public scrutiny for the first time. As far back as 2012, Wigwe served as a director of Carmel Gate Ltd, using Flat 7, Allingham Court, 44 The Bishops Avenue as his correspondence address.

What the probe does and does not allege

The Londoner was explicit in framing its methodology and its limits. The Herbert Wigwe London properties report documents ownership structures and does not allege any wrongdoing on Wigwe’s part or that of any associated entities.

Nevertheless, the findings place him among the overseas figures whose London interests were routed through shell companies and offshore arrangements in jurisdictions including Jersey, Guernsey, and the British Virgin Islands, structures that are common among high-net-worth individuals globally but that the new UK disclosure requirements have now made visible.

Wigwe’s profile and his UK connections

Furthermore, Wigwe’s presence in London’s property market is consistent with a career that had deep UK roots. He held a master’s degree in banking and finance from Bangor University and a further master’s in financial economics from the University of London. Moreover, he served as a director of Access Bank UK Ltd from 2008 until his death, giving him longstanding institutional ties to the British financial system.

Together with current Access Bank CEO Roosevelt Ogbonna, he was one of only two shareholders who incorporated Access Holdings in 2021, with each holding four million ordinary shares. Wigwe died alongside his wife Doreen, son Chizi, and former Nigerian Exchange Group chairman Abimbola Ogunbanjo when their helicopter crashed near Nipton, California on February 9, 2024.