Police to arraign oil firm, bank, others for fraud

The police have filed a six-count bordering on conspiracy, forgery and fraud against an oil company, Maters Energy Oil and Gas Limited, and eight others before a Federal High Court in Lagos.

Listed as the 3rd defendant in the charge marked, FHC/199c/16, filed before Justice Mohammed Idris, is a commercial bank, United Bank for Africa.

Also joined as defendants in the charge are two female employees of UBA, Tammy Adoki and Augustina Ezenwenkwe, who the police said had absconded and were still at large.

The bank was charged to court for allegedly failing to do due diligence and for being negligent to apply its internal control procedures in the opening of an account in the name of one Mut-Hass Petroleum, which the police alleged was fraudulent.

The police claimed that the bank allowed the said account to be opened sometime in 2011 at one of its regional offices in Lagos in breach of the provisions of the Bank and other Financial Institutions Act 2004.

For this alleged failure, police claimed that the bank was liable to being punished under Section 7(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other related Offences Act 2006.

Its officials, Adoki, 36 and Ezenwenkwe, 39, were accused of “facilitating, contributing or otherwise being involved in the failure of your bank to exercise due diligence,” an offence which the police said was punishable under Section 7(3)(b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other related Offences Act 2006.

The other defendants in the charge are 45-year-old Uche Ogah, Deji Somoye, 46; Felix Eribo, 43; Onu Ogbonnaya, 41; and Sheidu Olayinka, 37.

The defendants and some other persons still at large were accused of forging the signatures of one Mrs. Bridget Adeosun and Hassan Olatunji, with the intent that same might be acted upon as if they were genuine.

They were also accused of forging a document titled, “Ordinary Resolution of Mut-Hass Petroleum Limited,” which the police claimed was contrary to Section 465 of Criminal Code, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and punishable under Section 467 of the same law.

They were said to have committed the alleged offences in Ikeja GRA, Lagos sometime in August 2011.

When the case was called on Thursday, the police prosecutor, Mr. Henry Obiazi, said the police were still making efforts to bring the suspects to court.

Justice Idris consequently adjourned till June 2, 2016 for the police to bring the suspects to court for arraignment.