180M Fraud: Court frees Ogbulaforon

N180M Fraud: Court frees Ogbulaforon

Reprieve came the way of erstwhile
chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, yesterday as an
Abuja High Court in Maitama discharged
and acquitted him from the 17-count
criminal charge preferred against him by
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission, ICPC.
In his judgment, Justice Ishaq Bello held
that the anti-graft agency failed to establish
its allegation that the former PDP boss,
while in office as the Minister for Special
Duties in 2001, used three fake companies
ýto divert funds from the coffers of Federal
Government to the tune of about N180
million.
However, the court relied on a confessional
statement made before ICPC by the 2nd
accused person in the matter, Mr. Emeka
Ebilah, and sentenced him to five years
imprisonment without an option of fine.
Ebilah, who was a member of the National
Economic Intelligence Committee, NEIC,
which was set up by the administration of
former President Olusegun Obasanjo to
verify debts owed local contractors, had
confessed before ICPC that he supervised
the illegal diversion of funds to the three
bogus companies which he said was partly
owned by the ex-PDP chairman.
While under interrogation, he confessed that
Ogbulafor, through one Mr. Chris Nwoke,
collected kickbacks of N2 million and N28
million from him to facilitate the release of
funds to the said fake companies.
He further admitted that the fake companies,
Henrichiko Nig Ltd, DHL Consultants and
Chekwas Industries, used forged documents
to collect N82.6 million, N11.5 million and
N6.2 million, respectively, from Federal
Governmentý for executing non-existent
contracts.
Nevertheless, while on trial, the 2nd
accused, Ebilah, denied the confessional
statement, insisting that one Bassey
Mohammed, an operative of ICPC, compelled
him at gunpoint to indict Ogbulafor.
Though Ogbulafor who testified for himself,
told the court that he was the one that
nominated Ebilah into the NEIC, he, however,
denied receiving any money from him as
kickback.
Ogbulafor told the court that the 2nd
accused person only gave him N2 million as
a donation for his campaign activities,
stressing that he had already resigned his
ministerial position at that time.
In his judgment, Justice Bello held that there
was no evidence indicating that Ogbulafor at
any material time, had a relationship with
any of the three companies involved in the
fraud or acted as a director in any of them.
The judge also noted that the 1st accused
was never a member of NEIC nor
participated in the verification of contracts,
“and there is no evidence whatsoever to
prove that the 1st accused removed money
whatsoever from any of the companies.”
He described the allegation that Ogbulafor
collected kickbacks through one Mr. Nwoke
as “hearsay evidence,” adding that ICPC
failed to establish a link between the 1st
accused and the charge.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/
n180m-fraud-court-frees-ogbulafor/