Omokore,
Aluko and four others are standing trial before a Federal High Court on
nine counts of criminal diversion of about $1.6bn alleged to be
proceeds of the sale of petroleum products belonging to the Federal
Government.
Diezani Alison-Madueke
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is ready to testify
against a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani
Alison-Madueke, and oil barons, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore in the
United States and the United Kingdom, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.
A correspondent also learnt that further evidence had been sent to
the US Justice Department, as well as the UK’s National Crime Agency
with a view to repatriating part of the $1.6bn allegedly stolen by
Alison-Madueke, Aluko and Omokore.
Omokore, Aluko and four others are standing trial before a Federal
High Court on nine counts of criminal diversion of about $1.6bn alleged
to be proceeds of the sale of petroleum products belonging to the
Federal Government.
A source at the anti-graft agency said, “We have sent evidence
to the UK and the US on this case. The investigation involves many
countries because these guys bought properties on different continents.
“We also update them as the case in court continues to unfold.
We will be willing to testify if need be. This was how we assisted the
UK in the James Ibori case. We will continue to work together.”
While Omokore is currently in Nigeria, Aluko has continued to elude
both local and foreign authorities for over a year and was last seen in
Porza-Lugano, Switzerland, in 2016.
It was learnt that the anti-graft agency has been sending court
testimonies to the US and the UK, as well as sworn affidavits deposed to
by key witnesses against the three primary suspects.
The key witnesses are a former Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu; the Managing
Director, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, Yusufu
Matashi; as well as some officials of the EFCC.
Omokore and Aluko were accused of creating two shell companies in
the British Virgin Islands — Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria
and Atlantic Energy Brass Development — to handle their oil contracts.
Though the companies did not meet all the requirements set by the
Bureau of Public Procurements, they were said to be given the contract
through the influence of Alison-Madueke.
After failing to fulfil the terms of their deals, they were allowed
to produce and sell about $1.6bn worth of crude oil. The duo then
allegedly created additional shell companies to launder the proceeds
through the US and the UK, giving kickbacks to Diezani.
According to the UK Financial Times, a prosecutor told a US court
that, Aluko, a trader, who made about $500,000, became a billionaire in
less than three years, purchasing $87m of US property and a yacht worth
$82m.
In a conversation with Aluko that prosecutors said Diezani
recorded, she criticised him for his lavish spending, saying, “If you
want to hire a yacht, you lease it for two weeks or whatever. You don’t
go and sink funds into it at this time when Nigerian oil and gas sector
is under all kinds of watch.”
Aluko and Omokore allegedly purchased millions of dollars worth of
property in and near London for Diezani and her family and then
furnished the homes with furniture, artwork and other luxury items from
Houston-area stores that she fancied.
The report said, “In January 2011, the Nigerian businessmen and
unidentified co-conspirators bought a Buckinghamshire home known as
‘The Falls’ for £3.25m. Two months later, as Aluko was meeting with
Nigerian oil officials to discuss a contract, he arranged to buy two
properties near London’s Regent Parks: a £1.7m home at 39 Chester Close
and 58 Harley House on the Marylebone Road for £2.8m.
“The first property, upgraded with an elevator and new stone
flooring and countertops, was intended for the use of Alison-Madueke’s
mother and her son, according to the complaint. The men, that month,
also purchased a £3.7m-flat at 83-86 Prince Albert Road for the oil
minister.”
The US prosecutor alleged that on a single day in May 2012, Aluko
wired $461,500 from a Swiss bank account to one furniture store and
spent an additional $262,091 at a second on Diezani’s behalf.
The US prosecutors have also moved to seize $144m in assets,
including a 200-foot yacht and a Manhattan condominium, one block from
Central Park, calling them the fruits of an international bribery scheme
that involved Diezani.
The Justice Department action targeted Aluko’s vessel Galactica Star, which its builder considered as the “world’s largest, fast displacement yacht,”
along with condominium units in Manhattan and real estate in Southern
California located just three miles from the Pacific Ocean.
The yacht was said to have also been rented to US star couple, Jay-Z and Beyoncé at the cost of $900,000 a week.
The acting Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth Blanco, said the
properties would be sold and the fund repatriated to Nigeria. One of the
parents said his quest to reunite with his child had increased
tremendously in the last few days as a result of the assurance by the
abductors.
“We gave them N31m cash. We didn’t send it through a third
party and they confirmed the money was complete. They promised to
release our children soon.
“We were confused when we heard that they demanded another N1.5m before the children could be released,” the parent added.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde
Famous-Cole and the Force PRO, CSP Mashood Jimoh, had repeatedly assured
the parents and members of the public that the pupils would be rescued
soon.
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