Mamman Nasir Ali and Christian Taylor, two oil marketers involved in a N2.2 billion oil subsidy fraud, were each given 14 years in jail by Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday.
Following their re-arraignment, the two were found guilty together with their business, Nasaman Oil Services Limited, on an enhanced 57-count indictment based on new evidence found during investigations. An original 49-count allegation that included conspiracy to collect money by false pretence, forgery, and the use of fraudulent papers was expanded upon by the additional counts.
One of the counts reads: “Nasaman Oil Services Ltd, Mamman Nasir Ali, Christian Taylor, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo (now at large) and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez (still at large), on or about the 9th day of November 2011 at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain the sum of N749,991,273.36 (Seven Hundred and Forty-Nine Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety-One Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy-Three Naira Thirty-six Kobo) from the Federal Government of Nigeria by falsely claiming that the sum of N749,991,273.36 represented subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Services Ltd under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 10,031,986 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which Nasaman Oil Services Ltd purported to have purchased from SEATAC Petroleum Ltd of British Virgin Islands and imported into Nigeria through MT Liquid Fortune Ltd Ex MT Overseas Lima, which representation you knew to be false.”
Despite pleading not guilty to all counts, the court deemed the prosecution’s case, led by Seiduh Atteh, persuasive, supported by several witness statements and documentary evidence produced throughout trial.
Before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, who subsequently left the case, the defendants were on trial. Later, it was transferred to Justice Dada.
According to Justice Dada’s ruling, the defendants’ dishonest behaviour damaged public confidence in the country’s oil subsidy system in addition to causing the government to suffer a significant financial loss. As a result, the court ordered the seizure of identified assets and bank accounts linked to the profits of fraud and sentenced them to 14 years in jail each.
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Two co-accused, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Olabisi Abdul-Afeez, who are still at large, have arrest warrants issued by Justice Dada.
The convictions conclude a protracted judicial procedure that started when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, charged the defendants with defrauding the Nigerian government of N1,480,074,125.61 by pretending to import 20,492,982.50 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, or PMS. They were convicted, condemned, and found guilty by the court.
