Court in Lagos how the N1.2 billion
subsidy fraud allegedly committed by the
Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of A.B.S.
Investment Company Limited, Bamidele
Aro, and his company was detected.
The
defendants, Aro and Abiodun Bankole, as well as
their company, A.B.S. Investment Company
Limited, were arraigned by Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on
October 5 last year before Justice Lateefat
Okunnu on an 18-count charge bordering on
conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence
and forgery. Lawal Ahmed, a detective with the
EFCC, told the court that the defendants forged
documents to claim N1.2 billion for oil subsidy
without discharging 15,000 metric tonnes as
claimed.
The witness, who was led in evidence by EFCC
counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), said investigation
showed that haulage report that claimed 15,000
metric tonnes of petrol emanated from Societal
General Company in Paris was false.
He told the court that the petroleum product
actually emanated from Noble Clean Fuel
Limited as against Societal General Company in
the document presented to the Petroleum
Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, to
claim subsidy fund.
The witness said investigators detected that the
discharge date the petroleum product was said to
have been discharged was also forged. Ahmed
also said the ship-to-ship transfer said to have
been administered by Quality Marine Services
was altered, adding that there was no record of
such transaction upon investigation.
He said: "The documents for subsidy claim
submitted to PPPRA and used in collecting
subsidy claims by the defendants were forged."
The witness added that the product was not
imported because there was no ship-to-ship
transfer at all while the forged documents were
also used to claim subsidy fund. Okunnu
adjourned the matter to June 6 for further cross
examination.
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