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Tag: Diezani Allison-Madueke

  • JUST IN: Diezani’s ally, Jide Omokore acquitted of $1.6bn fraud

    JUST IN: Diezani’s ally, Jide Omokore acquitted of $1.6bn fraud

    The Federal High Court, Abuja has discharged and acquitted Jide Omokore, Chairman of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited and an ally of former Petroleum Minister, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke of fraud.

    The court, however, convicted Omokore’s co-accused, Victor Briggs and Abiye Membere for recieving car gifts, an offence the court said is contrary to Section 98 of the Criminal Code Act.

    Delivering judgment on the alleged 1.6 billion dollar fraud charge leveled against the defendant the trial judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba held that the prosecution failed to prove it’s case beyond reasonable doubt against Omokore.

    The judge held that the prosecution failed to establish the offence of obtaining by false pretence, conspiracy, fraud and conversion leveled against Omokore.

    He subsequently discharged and acquitted him.

    The judge, however, found Briggs and Membere guilty of official corruption under Section 98 of the Criminal Code Act and convicted them of same.

    The judge said that Briggs and Membere collected car gifts which they admitted to in their extra judicial statements.

    Justice Dimgba said that being public officials, he was satisfied that the manner in which they received the car gifts was unethical.

    He ordered that the convicts be remanded in EFCC custody pending their sentencing on Wednesday.

    The offence of public corruption under Section 98 of the Criminal Code Act attracts a seven-year jail term.

    The defendants were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 15-count charge on July 4, 2016.

    They were alleged to have fraudulently diverted about $1.6 dollars alleged to be part of proceeds of sales of petroleum products belonging to the Federal Government.

  • Appeal Court upholds final forfeiture order of Diezani’s $40m worth of jewellery

    Appeal Court upholds final forfeiture order of Diezani’s $40m worth of jewellery

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has upheld the final forfeiture order on the $40 million worth of jewellery seized from the premises of the former Minister for Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke.

    Justice Festus Obande, who read the judgment on Friday, held that there was no substance in Alison-Madueke’s bid to overturn the lower court’s order and subsequently dismissed the move by the former Minister to challenge the forfeiture order.

    Barring any appeal by the former minister to the Supreme Court, the jewelleries are to be forfeited to the Federal Government.

    In July 2019 the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had secured an order from Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court to temporarily forfeit the expensive items to the Federal Government.

    According to the schedule attached to the forfeiture application, the jewellery, categorised into 33 sets, includes “419 expensive bangles; 315 expensive rings; 304 expensive earrings; 267 expensive necklaces; 189 expensive wristwatches; 174 expensive necklaces and earrings; 78 expensive bracelets; 77 expensive brooches; and 74 expensive pendants.”

    In his application for the final forfeiture order, EFCC counsel Mr Rotimi Oyedepo had told the judge that the items were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of unlawful activities of the former minister.

    An investigator with the Commission, Rufai Zaki, in an affidavit before the court insisted that the jewelleries were beyond the former minister’s “known and provable lawful income.”

    The investigator further said that findings by the EFCC showed that she started acquiring them in 2012, two years after she was appointed Minister.

    The investigator also said that the EFCC was in possession of the details of the bank account through which Mrs Alison-Madueke received her salary as a minister.

    “The respondent did not utilise her salary or any part of her legitimate income to acquire the assets sought to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” Zaki said.

    He said a “damning intelligence report” received by the Commission led to the search of former minister’s house at No. 10 Fredrick Chiluba Close, Asokoro, Abuja.

    The former Minister on her part had challenged the seizure of the jewelleries from her premises by the EFCC.

    An affidavit filed on her behalf by her counsel, Prof Awa Kalu (SAN), Diezani, who is currently in the United Kingdom, alleged that the EFCC violated her fundamental “right to own property and to appropriate them at her discretion,” under sections 43 and 44 of the constitution.

    She also accused the anti-graft agency of entering her apartment illegally and taking the items without any court order.

  • How Diezani’s ally bought cars for friends, associates – Witness tells court

    The trial of Jide Omokore, an ally to former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, in an alleged case of $1.6 billion oil fraud continued on Thursday before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, with the seventh prosecution witness, Olutaye Ayeni, testifying.

    Omokore, is facing a nine-count amended charge of criminal diversion of funds to the tune of $1.6 billion alleged to be proceeds of petroleum products belonging to the federal government.

    He is being prosecuted alongside Victor Briggs, Abiye Membere, David Mbanefo, Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

    Ayeni, Chief Executive Officer, Skymit Motors, in his evidence narrated how Omokore used his company (Atlantic Energy) to purchase cars for friends and associates.

    Led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, counsel to EFCC, Ayeni, who specialises in auto sales and a dealer in Mercedes Benz revealed how Omokore purchased series of cars from his company, to which he (Ayeni) received credit flow of over $8million between 2010 and 2015.

    When asked of the relationship between his company and Omokore, the witness said, “I know Omokore for the past 32 years and we have been a business partner for over 24 years.

    “The transaction between my company and the defendant’s company was the supply of vehicles to him”.

    Explaining how the cars were supplied, Ayeni said, “Before 2015, the defendant was one of our customers. He used to order cars and we supply to him. Sometimes he pays cash advance and sometimes in credit”.

    The PW7 stated that, “after the defendant had placed his order – the type, make of cars and possibly the colour; we make delivery directly to him (Omokore) and sometimes through his company staff”.

    He added that deliveries of cars were usually not made to third party except on customer’s request.

    “We don’t make deliveries to third party except our customer asks us to do so”, he said.

     

  • 2015 Elections: How INEC officers received N264m bribe from Allison-Madueke – witness

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday, heard that two Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, employees, Christian Nwosu and Yisa Adegoyin, allegedly received N264million from a former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke.

    A prosecution witness, Mr Timothy Olaobaju, said that the money was paid to Nwosu and Adedoyin in cash.

    Olaobaju said this while testifying at the resumed trial of the accused persons, facing charges of corruption and undue enrichment.

    They are charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on allegations of receiving bribe from the former minister.

    Also charged is Tijani Bashir.

    Adedoyin had pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted following a plea bargain.

    Led in evidence on Wednesday by the prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the witness, a bank operative, said that he paid Nwosu and Adedoyin the sum of N264 million, on the instructions of Alison-Madueke.

    “Sometime in 2015, there was a meeting between our Managing Director and former Petroleum Minister during which she explained that some companies and individuals would come to the bank to pay some money into some accounts.

    “The companies were Nothern Belt Ltd, Actus Integrated Ltd, Midwestern Company and one Mr Leno Laitan.

    “In addition, she said that certain individuals would bring some cash to be kept for her.

    “A total sum of 89 million dollars was paid into the accounts; cash sums of 25 million dollars was brought, totalling 114 million dollars and the money was kept in the bank pending her instruction as agreed.

    “On March 26, 2014, we got instruction that the money be converted to naira.

    “After it was converted, it amounted to about N23 billion.

    ‘’There was a list of beneficiaries that was sent, to be paid across the 36 states of the federation, including Kwara and I handled the transactions in my branch,” the witness said.

    He said that the accused came to his office to collect the cash payment, and that he only acted on instruction.

    “There was an instruction that Nwosu and Adedoyin be paid N264 million and it was on the instructions of Alison-Madueke that they were paid,” he said

    According to the witness, the accused signed a receipt of payment for the money they collected.

    The witness said that after the accused were paid, they left with the cash and did not pay it into any account in his branch.

    Meanwhile, under cross examination by defence counsel, Messrs Obinna Okereke and Nelson Imoh, the witness said that he did not know the purpose of the payment.

    “The only instruction we had is that they should bring means of identification and should be paid; we did not know the purpose of the payment,” he said.

    The case was adjourned until June 29 for continuation of trial.

    The prosecution had alleged that the accused persons committed the offence on March 27, 2015 by accepting bribe from the ex-Minister.

    They were alleged to have conspired to take possession of the sum of about N264 million which sum they reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act of gratification.

    The accused were also said to have made cash payments of the sum of about N235 million, which sum exceeded the amount authorized by Law, without going through a financial institution.

    EFCC alleged that Bashir also made a cash payment of about N70.1 million to Adedoyin without going through a financial institution and which sum exceeded the amount authorized by law.

    The prosecution also alleged that Bashir also directly took possession of the sum of about N165 million which sum he ought reasonably to have known formed part of an unlawful act of gratification.

    In count seven, Nwosu was alleged to have directly used the sum of N30 million which he ought to have known formed part of an unlawful act of gratification.

    The offences were said to have contravened the provisions of sections 15 (3), 16 (2) and 18 (a) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Amendment Act, 2012.

     

     

    NAN