OIL MARKETERS RE-ASSIGNED FOR 1.5bn SUBSIDY FRAUD BY EFCC

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC re-arraigned three oil marketers, for 1.5bn  subsidy fraud on 21st February,2013 along with two firms, before a Lagos High Court, Ikeja, for alleged N1.5bn fuel subsidy fraud.

The accused, Ifeanyi Anosyke, Emeka Chukwu and Ngozi Ekeoma, along with Anosyke Group of Companies and Dell Energy Limited, pleaded not guilty to all the eight counts.

They were  re-arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo.

The re-arraignment followed the elevation of the former trial judge, Justice Habeeb Abiru, to the Court of Appeal.

The accused were first arraigned before Abiru on October 5, 2012. They were, on October 9, 2012, granted bail in the sum of N75m each, and the matter was adjourned till January 2013 for commencement of trial.

However, Abiru was elevated to the Court of Appeal on November 6, 2012, a development which ended his power to continue presiding over the matter.

It thus necessitated the re-assignment of the case to Onigbanjo and subsequent re-arraignment of the accused on Thursday.

EFCC prosecutor, Tayo Olukotun, accused the defendants of conspiracy to obtain by false pretence, obtaining by false pretence, forgery, uttering of forged documents.

Olukotun alleged that they fraudulently collected N1,537,278,880.82 from the Federal Government on January 23, 2012, claiming to have imported 15,000 metric tonnes of Petroleum Motor Spirit (petrol), under  the Petroleum Support Fund.

The documents allegedly forged and uttered to the Federal Government were said to have been tendered to facilitate payments for the quantity of fuel they never supplied.

Among the said forged papers were Bill of Lading tendered as evidence of shipment of 15,000 MT from Belgium; Certificate of Quantity, documents of ship-to-ship transfer of the product offshore Cotonou.

Dell Energy Limited, Chukwu and Ekeoma were separately accused of forging Board Resolution document purportedly issued by Anosyke Group of Companies for the opening of an account with Stanbic IBTC.