Justice Okunnu had on
January 13, 2017 convicted Ugo-Ngali, Ontario Oil and Gas Limited and its
Chairman, Mr. Walter Wagbatsoma of eight counts pressed against them by the
Economic and Financial Crimes.
Justice Lateefa Okunnu of
the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Thursday sentenced the Managing Director
of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, Mrs. Ada Ugo-Ngali, to a jail term of 10 years
for a fuel subsidy fraud of N754m.
The judge ordered the
refund of the N754m to the Federal Government.
The judge had been unable
to pass the sentence on the judgment day as Ugo-Ngali slumped in court after
being convicted and just before the judge could pass the sentence.
The convict was
subsequently rushed out of the courtroom and and taken to Havannah hospital in
Surelere from where she was later moved to the intensive care unit of the Lagos
State University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.
Ngo-Ngali came to court on
Thursday straight from LUTH and on a wheel chair, with plasters on her body.
In passing the sentence,
Justice Okunnu rejected the plea of the convict’s lawyer, Mr. Edoka Onyeke,
praying that the sentence should be non-custodian in view of his client’s
health.
“I have considered the plea
of the defence counsel for non-custodian sentence of the 2nd defendant. I have
to say that the request to grant a non-custodian sentence must be rejected and
I can only exercise my discretion on the length of time the convict will spend
in prison,” Justice Okunnu held.
She subsequently sentenced
the convict to a cumulative jail term of 69 years, which would, however, run
concurrently for only 10 years.
The judge said the jail
term would begin to read from January 13, 2017, when Ngo-Ngali and her
accomplices were pronounced convicted.
Wagbatsoma, who is the
first convict in the case, is said to be currently under house arrest in the
United Kingdom, where he is being held for money laundering, relating to a £12m
National Health Service Trust fraud.
Drama ensued soon after
Ngo-Ngali was sentenced as the convict’s relatives and prison officials pounced
on the official photographer of the EFCC, for attempting to take Ngo-Ngali’s
shots as she was being wheeled towards the waiting prison van.
The EFCC had on August 1,
2013 arraigned the Ngo-Ngali, Wagbatsoma and their company, accusing them of
defrauding the Federal Government of N1.9bn, which they fraudulently obtained
as subsidy sum for purportedly importing Premium Motor Spirit into the country.
Also charged with the three
convicts was an official of the Petroleum Products Price and Regulatory Agency,
Mr. Babafemi Fakuade, who was, however, discharged and acquitted by the judge
on January 13.
In finding Wagbatsoma and
Ngo-Ngali guilty, Justice Okunnu held, “The defendants defrauded the Federal
Government of N340m in the third quarter of 2010 and N414m in the fourth
quarter of 2010.
“According to a forensic
audit by Akintola Williams Delloitte, the defendants did not remit an excess of
N754m to the Federal Government.
“The first defendant
knowingly received the sum in excess of what the fourth defendant (Ontario Oil
and Gas Limited) was entitled to.
“In my opinion, he
contributed to the false pretence.”
Justice Okunnu further
held, “The second defendant is the MD of the company, she is the alter – ego of
the fourth defendant and was aware of the going ons of the company.”
Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment