A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday ordered the forfeiture of assets belonging to Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) incorporated in Virgin Island and its Nigerian affiliate, P&ID Nigeria Ltd, to the Federal Government.
The court equally issued an order winding up the activities of the two companies in Nigeria after finding them guilty of economic sabotage, tax evasion and money laundering in respect of the contract leading to the recent controversial judgment of a British court empowering the firm to seize about $9.6bn worth of Nigerian assets abroad.
Justice Inyang Ekwo gave the order following the guilty plea of the two representatives of P&ID in all the 11 counts before the Federal High Court. They were thereafter consequently convicted.
While P&ID Virgin Island was represented by Mohammad Kuchazi, its commercial director, P&ID Nigeria was represented by Adamu Usman, who is also a lawyer.
“The implication of today’s [Thursday] conviction is that Nigeria has a judicial proof of fraud and corruption as a foundation of the relationship that gave rise to a purported liability in the arbitral award,” Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation, said in reaction to the judgment.
He said a liability that is rooted in fraud and corruption cannot stand judicial enforceability and so Nigeria now has a cogent ground for setting aside the liability.
“Whereas Nigeria is expected to review its strategy in view of unfolding developments as it relates to conviction of some of the suspects that have admitted fraud and corrupt practices in the transaction that gave rise to purported award, Nigeria is meeting with its legal consortium early next week in the UK in preparation for the case listed for 26th September,” Malami said. During the court proceedings, Kuchazi was represented by his lawyer, Dandison Akurunwua, while Usman represented himself.
They were, among other things, accused by the Federal Government of fraudulently claiming to have acquired land from the Cross River State Government in 2010 for the gas supply project agreement which led to the $9.6bn judgment.
After the defendants pleaded guilty to the 11 counts, an EFCC investigator, Usman Babangida, was called to the witness box for review of facts which was not opposed by the defence. In the course of the exercise, the investigator tendered some documents relating to the controversial 2010 gas supply contract and EFCC’s investigation activities were tendered and admitted by the judge as exhibits without objection from the defence.
The judge then went on to pronounce the two firms represented by the two men guilty.
Although the prosecution counsel, Bala Sanga, had commended the defendants for their forthrightness and candour, he submitted that under section 19 (2) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act and section 10(2) of the Advanced Fee Fraud, where a body is convicted under these laws, the proper order is for the winding up its affairs and forfeiture of its assets and property to the Federal Government.
Earlier in their plea for mercy, the defendants prayed the court to consider that they did not waste the time of the court in arriving at its judgment.
Akurunwua, counsel for P&ID, urged the judge to consider “the forthrightness and candour” of his client who pleaded guilty and did not waste the time of the court in the trial. In his judgment, Justice Ekwo held that he has “reviewed the evidence tendered by the prosecution and the exhibits supported by PW1 A, B, C tendered before this court” and has taken note of the plea of guilt by the defendants.
“It is upon these findings that I find the 1st and 2nd defendants guilty as charged and I hereby made the following orders. The 1st defendant is convicted on count 1-10 while the 2nd defendant is convicted on count 1-11,” Justice Ekwo held.
“I have listened to the allocutus of the defendants and I have also listened to the prosecution counsel. I will make my orders according to the dictates of the law,” he said.
“An order is made winding up the activities of the 1st and 2nd defendants in the country forthwith. An order is made that their properties and assets be forfeited to the Federal government of Nigeria. Having made these orders, I enter it as the judgment of this court,” he further said.
The charges include, among others, that P&ID British Virgin Island, P&ID Nigeria, Michael Quinn (deceased), Neil Hitchcock (deceased), and Brendan Cahill (at large) “on or about the 11th day of January 2010 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this court with intent to defraud, conspired to obtain benefit to wit: Petroleum Product from the Federal Government of Nigeria by falsely representing to the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, that Process Development Ltd was allocated land by the Cross River state government which representation you know to be false thereby committed an offence contrary to section 8(a) and punishable under section (1) (3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Offences Act, 2006”; P&ID British Virgin Island, P&ID Nigeria, Michael Quinn (deceased), Neil Hitchcock (deceased), and Brendan Cahill (at large) about the same time “conspired with certain officials of Nigerian Government to commit felony to wit: dealing in Petroleum Product without appropriate licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under section 1(17) of the same Act”, and that P&ID British Virgin Island, P&ID Nigeria, Michael Quinn (deceased), Neil Hitchcock (deceased), and Brendan Cahill (at large), “between January 2010 and March 2013 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court attempted to deal in Petroleum Product without appropriate licence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(19) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under section 1(17) of the same Act”.
In count 10, the defendants were accused of concealing the sum of N1,414,955.50, thereby committed an offence contrary to section 15(2)(a) and punishable under section 15(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No: 1 of 2012.
FELIX OMOHOMHION, Abuja
