TheNewsGuru

Tag: US Court

  • Ex-NNPC official convicted over $2.1 million bribery scandal

    Ex-NNPC official convicted over $2.1 million bribery scandal

    A Nigerian lawyer based in Los Angeles, Paulinus Okoronkwo has been convicted by  United States District Court for receiving a $2.1 million bribe from a Chinese oil company to influence drilling rights in Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com(TNG) reports that  Okoronkwo, 58, popularly known as “Pollie,” was found guilty of  three counts of money laundering, one count of tax evasion, and one count of obstruction of justice after a four-day trial in California.

    According to prosecutors, Okoronkwo while serving as General Manager of the upstream division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC, now NNPC Ltd.), collected the bribe in tune of $2.1 million from Addax Petroleum, a Swiss subsidiary of Chinese state-owned oil giant Sinopec, which was wired to a trust account in the name of his Los Angeles law firm, disguised as payment for legal consultancy.

    “The agreement was nothing more than a sham to conceal a bribe,” prosecutors argued, noting that Addax was seeking to protect crude oil drilling rights in Nigeria worth billions of dollars.

    Evidence also revealed that Addax fired executives who questioned the transaction and lied during an audit to cover up the deal.

    Investigators showed that in November 2017, Okoronkwo used $983,200 from the illicit funds as a down payment for a house in Valencia, California. He also failed to declare the payment on his 2015 tax returns.

    In 2022, when questioned by federal agents, he claimed the money belonged to a client and was not his income, an assertion prosecutors proved false.

    US District Judge John F. Walter has fixed December 1 for sentencing. Okoronkwo faces:

    • Up to 10 years in prison for each money laundering count
    • Up to 10 years for obstruction of justice
    • Up to five years for tax evasion

    This could total a statutory maximum of 35 years.

    For now, Okoronkwo remains free on a $50,000 bond.

    The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the IRS Criminal Investigation, with backing from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

    The prosecution team included Assistant US Attorneys Alexander Schwab, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division Nisha Chandran, and Alexander Su of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section.

  • S3x abuse case: US Appeals Court upholds $5m verdict against Trump

    S3x abuse case: US Appeals Court upholds $5m verdict against Trump

    US appeals court on Monday upheld a jury’s verdict that Donald Trump sexually abused a columnist in an upscale department store changing room in the mid-1990s.

    The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a written decision also upholding the $5 million compensation awarded by the Manhattan jury for defamation and sexual abuse.

    E Jean Carroll, a veteran magazine columnist, testified during a 2023 trial that a cordial encounter with Trump in spring 1996 turned violent after they entered the store’s changing room.

    Trump, who consistently denied the allegations, chose not to attend the trial.

    However, he made a brief appearance at a subsequent trial this year that resulted in an $83.3 million award.

    The second trial stemmed from remarks made by then-President Trump in 2019 after Carroll initially disclosed these accusations in her memoir.

    Trump maintains he has never encountered Carroll, the 80-year-old advice columnist for the Elle magazine.

    He claimed she wasn’t his “type”—a statement her legal team interpreted as implying she was insufficiently attractive to be assaulted.

    The incident allegedly occurred in 1996, but Carroll filed her lawsuit in November 2022, utilising the newly enacted Adult Survivors Act in New York.

    This legislation permits victims of sexual assault to pursue civil cases even after the standard limitation period has expired.
    When Carroll initially disclosed the allegations in a New York magazine article in 2019, during Trump’s presidency, he responded with immediate hostility, subsequently labelling her as mentally unstable.

  • Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama sued in US for defamation

    Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama sued in US for defamation

    A former Nigerian Ambassador to Namibia, Onoh Lilian has filed a libel suit at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas against Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama.

    Aside Onyeama, another Nigerian Mr Gabriel Aduda, a Permanent Secretary at the ministry has also been dragged to court by Onoh.

    American judge, Jane Boyle has been assigned to handle the case but no date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.

    According to the  court documents, Onoh filed, she  accused Onyeama and Aduda of using a New York-based online newspaper to defame her character.

    In the suit before the court, Counsel to Onoh, Steven Thornton, said the online newspaper, in April, published an article saying the Nigerian Government sacked Onoh on account of misappropriation of N50 million.

    Her counsel, Thornton, noted that the media outlet published Onoh’s photograph to ensure the story’s object was not mistaken.

    In court papers, her counsel decried the paper’s portrayal of his client as being corrupt, having informed its global audience of the diversion of funds meant for the running of Nigeria’s High Commission in Namibia.

    The online newspaper alleged that Aduda and Onyeama were members of the investigative committee that indicted Onoh of fraud.

    As a fight-back, in a series of memos to former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Onoh accused Onyeama of condoning corrupt practices in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    According to the court papers, as an Ambassador, Onoh had reported multiple incidents of embezzlement of millions of U.S. dollars and billions of Naira of Nigerian government funds by various Nigerian officials.

    She also reported an alleged embezzlement of $2.8 million in Red Cross Funds meant for Haiti earthquake victims, as well as the acts of visa racketeering in the USA and other countries in which her successor in Jamaica had engaged.

    The claimant’s lawyer contended that the media claims in the alleged offending story were false, stating that she was never terminated from any posting with the Nigerian Government for misappropriation of funds.

    He further argued that Onyeama did not create a seven-person committee to investigate Onoh, nor did Aduda head any such committee.

    In the claimant’s prayers before the judge, Thornton demanded litigation costs, “and all such other and further relief at law and in equity to which Onoh may show herself to be justly entitled”.

    Geoffrey Jideofor Kwusike Onyeama is a Nigerian diplomat and politician who served as the minister for foreign affairs of Nigeria from November 2015 to May 2023.

    He was appointed foreign affairs minister in November 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhar

  • Suspect in Tupac killing denies murder

    Suspect in Tupac killing denies murder

    An ex-gang member who had long boasted of his involvement in the murder of rap legend Tupac Shakur a quarter of a century ago pleaded not guilty in a US court.

    Duane “Keefe D” Davis, 60, was charged in September over the killing, despite not being the man wielding the weapon in the gang feud in Las Vegas.

    The 60-year-old Davis, a former member of Compton’s South Side Crips gang, has long acknowledged his involvement in the slaying, boasting he was the “on-site commander” in the effort to kill Shakur and Death Row Records boss Marion “Suge” Knight in revenge for an assault on his nephew.

    But at a court hearing in Las Vegas he denied the charge of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.

    “Not guilty,” Davis told District Judge Tierra Jones when she asked for his plea.

    Under Nevada law, anyone who aids or abets a murder can be charged with the killing, in the same way that a getaway driver can be charged with bank robbery even if he never entered the bank.

    Prosecutors said Thursday they would not be seeking the death penalty if Davis is convicted.

    “We talked about it, and I determined that it’s not a case in which we should seek the death penalty,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson as saying after the hearing.

    Shakur, the best-selling hip-hop artist behind hits such as “California Love,” “Changes,” and “Dear Mama,” was a major star in the world of rap when he was gunned down on September 7, 1996. He was just 25.

    He was signed to Death Row Records, an outfit associated at the time with Los Angeles street gang Mob Piru, which had a long-standing beef with the South Side Compton Crips.

    Shortly after Davis was arrested, prosecutors said that what happened on the night of the killing had been largely understood for many years, but they had not had sufficient admissible evidence to advance the case.

    That began to change when Davis, reportedly the only person in the car that night still alive, published an autobiography and spoke about the crime for a TV show.

    Wolfson said statements Davis had made in the past would be considered at the trial.

    He added that he was aware that the case was attracting global attention, but it would not change how it was handled.

    “The fact that the world is watching really doesn’t matter,” he said, according to the Review-Journal.

    “What we care about is presenting the evidence to a jury, so that the jury can make the ultimate decision.”

     

  • STRONG VERDICT: US court jails man for touching thigh of sleeping plane passenger

    STRONG VERDICT: US court jails man for touching thigh of sleeping plane passenger

    A court in the United States has slammed a two year jail term on a 50-year-old man who touched thigh of a sleeping passenger on a plane.

    The man identified as Mohammad Jawad Ansari, reportedly put his hand on the inner thigh of a woman as she slept in the middle seat of a flight from Cleveland to Los Angeles in February 2020.

    The victim, who was wearing a dress, woke up and pushed Ansari’s hand away before leaving her seat and telling cabin crew about the assault, officials said.

    Ansari, who had denied the charge of abusive sexual contact, was found guilty after a four-day trial in May, the Department of Justice said.

    Ansari’s “groping left (his victim) shocked and afraid, and witnesses testified that she sobbed for the remainder of the flight,” a prosecutor told a court in Los Angeles.

    On flights, the victim “now struggles to fall asleep because she is constantly concerned about ‘what if someone touches me.’”

    US District Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha jailed Ansari for 21 months and ordered him to pay over $40,000.

  • Tinubu moves to block Atiku access to CSU records as US Court grants motion to file PEPC verdict

    Tinubu moves to block Atiku access to CSU records as US Court grants motion to file PEPC verdict

    A U.S. federal court has granted President Bola Tinubu’s motion to use documents from the Nigerian tribunal judgement passed last Wednesday to block his Chicago State University (CSU) records from being accessed by Atiku Abubakar, his main opponent at the February polls.

    Court filings obtained by an online medium showed that Judge Jeffrey Gilbert on Tuesday okayed Tinubu’s request to tender the tribunal ruling that upheld his election victory as exhibits to defend his cause at the U.S. Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

    “Intervenor Bola A. Tinubu’s Motion for Leave to File Sur-Response [27] is granted,” reads the document released Tuesday ahead of the in-court hearing of the matter later today. “Intervenor shall file the sur-response and exhibits attached as ECF Nos. 27-1 and 27-2 as separate CM/ECF docket entries.”

    Gilbert further moved up the time of the hearing

    from 2:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., per the court filing seen by The Gazette.

    “At the request of all counsel, the hearing set for 9/12/23 is reset to 1:30 p.m. This is a change in time only. Out of town counsel may appear at the hearing by using the following number.”

    The time change would presumably allow all parties to argue and tender all required exhibits.

    Abubakar seeks to clarify discrepancies regarding Tinubu’s background, from the real name under which he entered the U.S. to his age, gender, and admission and graduation.

  • Atiku files separate case in US Court seeking release of Tinubu’s academic records

    Atiku files separate case in US Court seeking release of Tinubu’s academic records

    Presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 election, Atiku Abubakar, has filed a separate case at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, United States, against President Bola Tinubu after he withdraw an existing one before a circuit court in Illinois.

    This was disclosed by the special Assistant on Public Communications to Atiku, Phrank Shaibu, yesterday.

    Shaibu said, “Waziri Atiku Abubakar only withdrew the case before a Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County, United States of America, because he is pursuing the same matter in a higher court and he wanted to avoid an abuse of court processes. So, this is just the beginning.”

    He said it was funny that Tinubu and his supporters were rejoicing over the development as if it were a Supreme Court judgement. He added that Tinubu’s academic records from primary school till university remained questionable, hence, the president’s failure to identify a single former classmate.

    Shaibu stated, “In the last one week, Nigerians have been watching the ongoing ministerial screening at the senate, where nominees have been made to reveal their primary, secondary and university history. Some of the ministerial nominees were even classmates with the senators screening them.

    “However, the man who nominated them has no educational history. He has no primary school, secondary school or university classmates. This is because he has no classmates. He actually fell from the sky.

    “In recent years past, presidents have invited their former classmates to Aso Rock Villa. Even President Muhammadu Buhari hosted his classmates from Katsina Middle School. But who did Bola Tinubu invite to the Presidential Villa? Governors from 1999 set. This is a man whose entire life, background and credentials remain unknown and Atiku will ensure that the man is exposed.

    “It is expected that the person to hold the Office of the President must be above board, especially, on his life history. Unfortunately, here we have a president whose history is shrouded in secrecy and for whom it is a tough life that started in 1993.”

    Shaibu maintained, “Even the year 1993, which presents the opening chapter of the recorded history of our president, is renowned for a documented indictment on narcotics trading. Now, this is 2023, Atiku is asking to open the shady history of our president and the same man is standing in the way of the truth about his past.

    “That very obstruction to the innocent effort to unravel the president’s past means that the man has something to hide. It is shameful that the president’s supporters are joyful that their man is covering up his own past.

    “But, like the saying goes, falsehood may run for a lifetime, the truth shall overrun it in an instant. The moment of truth is here and President Tinubu has no hiding place.”

    Meanwhile, the county court in Illinois had dismissed the suit filed by Atiku, seeking release of the academic records of Tinubu at the Chicago State University.

    According to a report by the Gatekeepers News reports, Judge Patrick J. Heneghan had on July 31, “dismissed the case without prejudice.”

    The news medium had reported the judge as ruling that the “petitioner’s subpoena in this case is withdrawn and thus Chicago State University will not be deposed pursuant to the subpoena in this case”, adding that the court further resolved all matters pending before it.

    Part of the documents Tinubu submitted in aid of his qualification for the 2023 presidential election is a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Administration, with a major in Accounting, obtained from the Chicago State University.

    The said documents, like Tinubu’s primary and secondary school education, have continued to generate controversies since he indicated interest in contesting for the number one seat in Nigeria.

    Meanwhile, the Gatekeepers News in the report of August 6, quoted a top-rated business litigation attorney in Chicago, Mr Victor Henderson, as stating that Tinubu was well known by citizens in the State of Illinois “for decades as a ‘distinguished graduate of Chicago State University and a well-respected international figure in the US.”

  • US court sanctions Trump and his lawyers with nearly $1m over claim that Hilary Clinton tried to rig 2016 election

    US court sanctions Trump and his lawyers with nearly $1m over claim that Hilary Clinton tried to rig 2016 election

    A federal US judge has sanctioned former US president Donald Trump and his lawyers nearly $1 million for a “frivolous” lawsuit claiming Hillary Clinton had tried to rig the 2016 election.

    District Judge John Middlebrooks said on Thursday, January 19 that the Republican, who is seeking to return to the White House in 2024, exhibited a “continuing pattern of misuse of the courts” and had filed the suit “in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative.”

    The lawsuit claimed that Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, and others had created a false narrative that his campaign had colluded with Russia.

    Trump in the lawsuit had sought $70 million in damages.

    But the suit “should never have been brought,” Middlebrooks said in the 45-page written court order.

    “Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim,” the judge wrote.

    Trump and his lawyers sanctioned with nearly $1m over claim that Hilary Clinton tried to rig 2016 election

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the judge also sanctioned Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba.

    Trump and Habba are jointly and severally liable for the total amount of sanctions imposed to cover the defendants’ legal fees and costs: $937,989.39.

    Middlebrooks in the suit judgement wrote that Trump is “a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries.

    “He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions.”

  • Abba Kyari/Hushpuppi: US Court can’t order arrest of a Nigerian citizen resident in Nigeria — Police Commission

    Abba Kyari/Hushpuppi: US Court can’t order arrest of a Nigerian citizen resident in Nigeria — Police Commission

    Reacting to the order by a United States court to the FBI to arrest Nigerian Police Officer, DCP Abba Kyari in connection to a $1.1million fraud perpetrated by Fraudster, Abbass Ramon aka Hushpuppi, the Police Service Commission on Saturday said it is strange that a US court could order the arrest of a non-citizen, a Nigerian citizen resident in Nigeria saying Nigeria is a sovereign nation with its laws and justice systems which should be respected.

    The Commission also added that it is not in possession of any report of any formal processes of Indictment or allegations against DCP Abba Kyari from either the FBI or the US court where Hushpuppi is being tried hence it cannot come up with a position on the matter.

    The Commission called on the office of the Attorney General of the federation to intervene on the issue and guide it on what to do since the commission is the legal body empowered to discipline erring Police officers.

    “We surely must be guided by our own Attorney General considering the global stance it is taking and the matter of the sovereignty of nation’s,” the commission said.

    The commission also added that will work in accordance with the law which established it and empowers it to carry out Disciplinary measures when it is notified officially about the matter, the commission said that a formal report must come from the appropriate quarters to the commission before anything is done.

    The Commissioner in charge of Media on the board of the Police Service Commission, Mr Austin Braimoh said, “A formal report must come to the Commission from somewhere or someone. The PSC has no position on the allegations against DCP Abba Kyari for now. This is because there is no formal report before the Commission on the officer as we speak. All we hearing on this matter is from the media.

    “We also heard that a United States Court either indicted or ordered his arrest. It sounds strange that a US court could order the arrest of a non-citizen, a Nigerian citizen resident in Nigeria. Nigeria is a sovereign nation with its laws and justice systems. We surely must be guided by our own attorney general.

    “We have to be guided by our own justice systems and courts as well as internal investigations processes. We are not aware of any petition against the officer (DCP Abba Kyari) before the Police Service Commission. If the IGP has one, we believe that he will do justice to it and forward it to us for necessary action at the appropriate stage”.

    Similarly, the PSC said it will conduct its own separate investigation into the allegation of bribe against DCP Abba Kyari by Hushpuppi

    Recall that a statement on the IGP’s directive titled, ‘Alleged Indictment of DCP Abba Kyari: Inspector General of Police Orders A Review of the Information’, was signed by CP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer.

    It read, “Sequel to the receipt of allegation and indictment processes from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) against one of the personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, DCP Abba Kyari, the Inspector General of Police IGP Usman Alkali Baba has ordered an internal review of the allegations.

    “The Nigeria Police Force reaffirms its commitment to the pursuit of justice and the strengthening of its professional relationship with the FBI and other international partners.

    “Further developments on this case will be communicated to members of the public accordingly”.

    eir investigation, the findings are sent to the PSC, whose own investigations department sits and vets, for final decision.

    On many occasions, indicting conclusions reached by the Force Disciplinary Committee on Police officers conduct that recommended dismissal, demotion or suspension, have been overruled by the Police Service Commission in the past.

    The United States Department of Justice had said ongoing investigations showed that Hushpuppi allegedly bribed Kyari to arrest one Kelly Chibuzo Vincent, one of his accomplices in Nigeria.

    According to documents released by the United States Department of Justice on Wednesday, titled: ‘Six Indicted in International Scheme to Defraud Qatari School Founder and then Launder over $1 Million in Illicit Proceeds’, Abba Kyari was alleged to have been bribed to arrest one Kelly Chibuzor Vincent, 40, in Nigeria, who created bogus documents and arranged for the creation of a fake bank website and phone banking line to support the defrauding of a business person trying to provide $1.1m for.

  • Hushpuppi to be sentenced in October-US Court

    Hushpuppi to be sentenced in October-US Court

    The United States attorney’s office at the central district of California says Ramon Abbas, the self-confessed international fraudster better known as Hushpuppi, will be sentenced in October.

    Thom Mrozek, the court’s director of media relations, also noted that a directive was issued to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the arrest of Abba Kyari, a top detective.

    “A U.S. Magistrate Judge has issued arrest warrants for the defendants in the case, including Mr Kyari,” he was quoted to have said.

    “This is standard operating procedure in nearly all of the criminal cases filed by this office. Hushpuppi is currently scheduled to be sentenced in late October.”

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai last year for cyber scam, after he claimed to have bribed the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) to arrest Chibuzo, his co-fraudster and rival.

    Although Kyari dismissed the claims, an investigation by the FBI claimed the detective collaborated with Hushpuppi to facilitate the arrest of Chibuzo.

    TheNewsGuru reports that Hushpuppi was arrested in the UAE in June 2020 alongside 11 of his associates over claims bordering on hacking, impersonation, scamming, banking fraud, and identity theft.

    His extradition to the US had followed after the UAE police detailed his arrest in a special operation dubbed ‘Fox Hunt 2’ where he was accused of defrauding 1.9 million victims to the tune of N168 billion.