Justice Silvanus Oriji of the FCT High Court, Apo, Abuja, has adjourned hearing in the suit involving two directors of Origin Oil and Gas Limited, Adegbite Adetoye and others in the alleged N735million subsidy fraud to March 7th, 2019.
According to EFCC, Mr Adegbite Adetoye and other defendants are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on an 11- count charge bordering on fraud and abuse of Petroleum Support Fund to the tune of N735m, as the EFCC got to know about this, after the anti-graft agency was invited by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources some weeks back, to help investigate the subsidy scam.
Mr Adegbite Adetoye and other defendants were alleged to have conspired and fraudulently obtained the sum of N735, 132, 076.18, (Seven Hundred and Thirty five Million, One Hundred and thirty two Thousand Seventy Six Naira and Eighteen Kobo) only from the Federal Government as payment for the importation of 15,000 mt of petrol, which they claimed to have purchased from Vitol SA and imported into Nigeria through MT Silverie.
At the resumed sitting on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, the fourth prosecution witness, an operative with the EFCC, Chidi Nweke, led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Steve Odiase, told the court that fourth quarter allocation in 2010, was given to the three defendants by the PPPRA, for the importation of PMS.
According to him, the importation was carried out by the defendants using the M.T. Silverie, which was purportedly loaded offshore through Cotonou in January, 2011 and discharged its entire cargo with the quantity of 19,179,999 liters of PMS at Lister depot Apapa Lagos operated by ‘O and O’ PLC.
Nweke told the court that the defendants in turn submitted a claim to the PPPRA, on February, 2011, for their company, Origin oil and Gas, and was paid N1, 137,565,740.69 billion for 19,179,999 million liters of PMS, which was later confirmed to be false.