Alleged N57.6m oil fraud: Businesswoman opens defence, denies charges
A Lagos Businesswoman, Oluremi Phillips charged with N57.6 million fraud has opened her defence before an Ikeja Special Offences Court and denied the charges proffered against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Phillips, is standing trial alongside her company, Omritas Energy Limited, on a five-count charge bordering on stealing and issuance of dud cheques to the tune of N57.6 million.
The witness, who was led in evidence by his counsel, Mr Akin Olatunji, told the court she was one of the director and chief operation officer of the company while her late husband, Mr Oluwasegun Phillips was the chairman and the chief executive officer.
She confirmed that she knew the nominal complainant, AYM Shafa Ltd through their Managing Director, one Alhaji Umar and they have had successful transactions in the past.
According to her, the MD of AYM Shafa called her on the phone on Oct.1 2016 that he needed 500, 000 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) at the Port Harcourt Refinery and she gave him the price at N155 naira per litre.
The witness said she received the sum of N75 million which was paid in N10 million tranches, from AYM Shafa’s account into the company’s account on Oct. 5, 2016.
She said: “Upon receiving their payment, we commenced loading immediately and the next day,the MD called me that he spoke to his drivers and they confirmed to him that they have loaded 356,000 litres of the DPK out of the 500,000 litres he paid for.
“He said he would like to purchase an additional
500,000 litres of the kerosene, I told him to go ahead and make the payment which he sent another N75 million, in N10 million installment.
“However, after four days of continuous loading, we got an announcement that the refinery would be going on strike and as at that time, we have loaded about 640,000 litres out of the one million litres and we were left with the balance of N360,000 of the DPK.
“We thought the strike was one or two days affairs but it went on for a while.”
The witness further told the court that she got another call from the MD of AYM Shafa on Oct.12, 2016 to ask if there was AGO (diesel) in which she told him it was available at their depot in Akwa-Ibom.
She said the MD told her he would like to also purchase a one million litres of AGO that he would send his representative at the depot, one Mr Saidu Illiya to her.
According to her, Illiya came to meet her at the office concerning the AGO and also asked her for his own commission but he told her she has already given an agreed price to his MD.
She said: “On Oct.17 2016, we got an alert of N100 million, in 10 million tranches which was sent from the account of Mr Illiya and we commenced the loading of the AGO that very day.
“We had an understanding with the MD that since we do not know when Port Harcourt Refinery will be calling off the strike, we would like to covert the outstanding 360,000 litres of DPK to AGO to avoid delay and he appreciated it.
“We started loading and I later informed the MD that it seems there is also going to be scarcity of the AGO and that we are still waiting for the N60 million balance of the AGO from Mr Illiya so as to pay our suppliers on time.
“We waited, waited, suppliers were calling from the depot but we could not get the payment from Mr Illiya and I put a call through to the MD who later confirmed that as a matter of fact, Illiya was supposed to pay us N105 million and that the company was supposed to balance Illiya N55 million but I confirmed to the MD that Illiya only paid N100 million.
“Shortly after, the MD called me that the N55 million has been paid to Illiya but we did not receive the money from him until the product finished.”
The witness further said she informed the MD after the AGO finished and he promised to call her back but he never did until five days she called him that she would like to refund the outstanding balance of N52 million.
She said 14 days after, she got a call from their suppliers that there would be product and she rushed back to Akwa-Ibom only for her mother to called her from Lagos that some policemen from Bauchi State Police Station came to arrest her.
According to her: ” I told my mum to give the phone to one of the officer and he confirmed that they came from Bauchi on the order of the MD and one of the representatives of the company was with them.
“So I spoke with the rep of the company and told him that their reps were with me in Akwa-Ibom that what were they doing in my parent’s house with the police.
“He said they came to collect their money and I told him that should not be a problem because this was not our first time of transacting business and there was no time they have used force or anything.
“I tried to persuade him but the rep insisted that their MD has ordered if they can not come with me, they can come with cheque.”
The businesswoman further said she told the rep that she has spoken with their MD to give her six months for her suppliers to refund the money but he that the MD insisted the money must be refunded in four months.
She said: “He insisted he wanted cheque as a sign of agreement but I told him I can not give him because there was no money and the suppliers have not refunded the money.
“He told me to give him a few minutes to speak with their MD on the phone and when he returned back, he said their MD has agreed I do the payment within four months and I told him it is not within my power but it is achievable as he should allow me talk to the suppliers as well.
“Then he suggested that the payment should be divided into four equal installments but while I was saying N52 million, they were saying N57 million and at that point, I did not understand where the extra N5 million was coming from only for the police officer to confirm to me again that I was paid N105 million by Mr Illiya.
“But I told him Mr Illiya paid N100 million and he said we can not be arguing that at the moment so they divided the money and the amount was N14 million with some extra on it and my late husband wrote the cheque and went to give them at my parent’s house.”
The witness also said that one week after, she received a call from the MD and he aplologised, adding that he acted on the information given by Illiya and also told her to forget the cheques that her suppliers could supply the product whenever it was available.
She continued that the MD should understand there was no product on ground and she did not know when the product would be available as she was mainly in Akwa-Ibom for thr purpose of recovering the money from the suppliers.
According to her, she received a call 14 days after from one Mr Christian Ekemazie, who introduced himself as the head of legal for the complainant’s company and said he would like to see me.
She said: “I went to see Mr Ekemazie immediately I got back to Lagos and he aplologised on the company’s behalf and also said he would be in charge of the company’s transaction henceforth.
“He also told me they do not want the cheques again that it was the product that they want and I also reteirated that there was scarcity of product at the moment and there was no way I could get it for them.
“After much persistence, I called one of our suppliers that AYM Shafa did not want money but my supplier objected because the price of the product has increased.
“He later promised to give them two trucks from the product they were expecting and due to the experience I had with them, myself and Mr Ekemazie signed an agreement in which I promise to shoulder the logistics if they drove their trucks from the north to Akwa-Ibom and the product was not available.”
EFCC alleged the defendant fraudulently converted and stole the sum of N57.6 million property of AYM Shafa Ltd meant for the supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) which she failed to supply
The commission also alleged she issued a Diamond Bank cheque of Nigeria Plc for the sum of N14,2 million payable to the company which when presented for payment was dishonoured on the grounds that no sufficient funds were standing to the credit of the account.
Phillips, had pleaded not guilty to the charge, following her re-arraignment on March 23, 2023
Justice Ismail Ijelu adjourned the case until March 27 for continuation of trial.
