The son of former national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mamman Ali and his co-defendant, Christian Taylor, in a N2.2 billion fuel subsidy fraud, part of a major oil sector scandal that caused public outrage in 2012 have been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.
Penpushing reports that the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja sentenced the two oil marketers on Tuesday, after 13 years of trial, after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) proved the fraud charges against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
The anti-graft accused the duo of fraudulently obtaining money from the Nigerian government in 2011 purportedly for importing various volumes of petrol into Nigeria under the subsidy scheme.
Penpushing further reports that Mamman, whose father is Ahmadu Ali, and Christian, a co-defendant faced amended 57 counts of fraud, preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
The anti-crimes commission alleged that, on April 11, 2011 in Lagos, Ali and his co-defendant fraudulently obtained N1.48 billion from the Nigerian government as payments for 20,492,982.50 litres of petrol which Ali’s firm, Nasaman Oil Services Limited claimed to have imported into Nigeria under the Petroleum Support Fund.
Penpushing also reports that the agency alleged that Nasaman Oil Services Limited fraudulently claimed the money from the government under the pretext of purchasing the petrol from SEATAC Petroleum Ltd of British Virgin Islands and imported it into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune Ex Mt. Hellenic Blue and Ex MT. Milleura.
The commission in same vein alleged that on November 9,2011 in Lagos, the defendants fraudulently obtained about N750 million from the Nigerian government by claiming that it was the accrued payments for 10,031,986 litres of petrol that Nasaman Oil Services Limited purportedly imported into Nigeria under the fuel subsidy scheme.
Penpushing reports that the prosecution said the defendants falsely claimed to have purchased the petrol from SEATAC Petroleum Ltd of British Virgin Islands and imported it into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune Ltd Ex MT Overseas Lima, which representation they knew to be false.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleged that the defendants scammed the government by submitting forged loan facility documents and fake shipping documents to claim the money.
Penpushing further reports that the time of the alleged fraud, Ali’s father, Ahmadu Ali, a former chairman of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was the chairman of the board of the defunct Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) overseeing the petrol subsidy regime.
The agency said Ali and his co-convict perpetrated the N2.2 billion fuel subsidy fraud alongside two other persons – Olabisi Abdul-Afeez and Oluwaseun Ogunbambo – who are said to still be at large.
Penpushing also reports that the trial judge Mojisola Dada in her judgement held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) proved the fraud charges against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge, ordered the forfeiture of bank accounts and other assets linked with the fraud, and held that the actions of the defendants not only defrauded the government but also undermined the integrity of Nigeria’s oil subsidy programme.
Penpushing reports that in his final judgement, in the case which is one of the longest running among the cases convicted the two men and issued a warrant for the arrest of the two alleged fugitives.
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