On Monday, Emefun Etudo, the prosecution witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), narrated to a Special Offences Court how two oil marketers, Osahon Asemota and Yusuf Kwande, connived to allegedly steal stealing 6.4m metrics tonnes of Automotive Gas Oil worth $8.4m belonging to Nadabo Energy Limited.
The oil marketers were arraigned alongside five companies- Trafigura Beheer BV, Trafigura PTE Limited, Mettle Energy and Gas, Renbrandt Limited and Jil Engineering and Oil Services Limited on three counts of conspiracy, stealing and receiving stolen property before Justice Mojisola Dada.
The EFCC, in the charges, accused the defendants of fraudulently converting 6.4 million metric tonnes of Automated Gas Oil at the office of Trafigura Beheer BV located at 20A Sinaro Daranijo Street, off Ligali Ayorinde Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to the prosecution counsel for the EFCC, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), the stolen AGO worth $8,442,806.094, was a property of Nadabo Energy Limited kept in the legal custody of the defunct Spring Bank on Victoria Island.
Etudo, while being led in evidence by Jacobs, said the script to steal the 6.4 metric tonnes of AGO was well acted and executed by all the defendants. He told the court that he had acted as a solicitor to Trafigura and was deceived by Asemota to believe that the product inside the cargo was contaminated while acting as his client. He also added that the cargo was not contaminated as claimed by Rendbrant Limited, stressing that the claim that the cargo was contaminated was lying put together to deceive Nadabo Energy Limited and Spring Bank.
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