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Phillips, ex-NOGASA chairman, gets 21-year jail term over N43.5m fraud

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A special offences court in Ikeja has convicted Fatuyi Phillips, a former chairman of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA), over N43.5 million fraud.

Mojisola Dada, the presiding judge, sentenced Phillips to 21 years in jail.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on April 5, 2022, arraigned Philips alongside his firm, Oceanview Oil and Gas Limited.

The NOGASA chairman had pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge, bordering on obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N43,502,000.

The EFCC called five witnesses and tendered several documentary evidence, while the defendants called three witnesses.

According to a statement by the EFCC, Dada, while delivering the judgment, held that the prosecution proved its case against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

The judge sentenced Phillips to 14 years imprisonment on count one and seven years on count two, without an option of a fine.

The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Also, the judge ordered the second defendant, Oceanview Oil and Gas Limited, to pay a fine of N500,000 in respect of count one and another N250,000 in respect of count two within 30 days or be wound up.

“The court further ordered the convicts to make restitution in the sum of $90,202 or the prevailing naira equivalent to the nominal complainants,” the statement reads.

“Phillips journey to the correctional centre began when he collected the sum of N43, 502,000.00 from Elochukwu Okoye and Elebana Unique Ventures Nigeria Limited on behalf of WAPCIL Nigeria Limited with a false promise of selling its dollar equivalent ($98,870.00) to them.

“He neither returned the naira nor dollar equivalent to the petitioners.”

Crime

NDLEA arrests returning businessman for smuggling cocaine

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a businessman identified as an ‘I Just Got Back’ returnee for attempting to smuggle cocaine into the country.

Femi Babafemi, the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, shared videos of the seized contraband on X.com on Sunday.

The suspect, who had just returned from a foreign trip, initially raised suspicion due to his nervous demeanour.

NDLEA officials subjected him to a routine screening, during which wraps of cocaine began to fall from his body.

The statement said: “Narco-trend update: The moment #ndlea_nigeria officers intercepted an ‘I Just Got Back’ businessman, screened him, and wraps of cocaine began to ‘rain’ from his body. Who will tell them that NDLEA will always get them no matter the mode of concealment?”

Click the link below to watch the video:

https://x.com/MobilePunch/status/1870746436486181327?t=DaTN7Qj1qhv27-sflE9p6Q&s=19
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Crime

Court jails ex-IMF chief Rodrigo Rato for tax fraud, corruption

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Court jails ex-IMF chief Rodrigo Rato for tax fraud, corruption

A Madrid court on Friday sentenced former International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato to more than four years in prison for tax crimes, money laundering and corruption.

Judges found Rato who was also a former economy minister in Spain, guilty of “three offences against the treasury, one offence of money laundering and one offence of corruption between individuals,” the court announced in a statement.

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Crime

Paul Pogba’s brother sentenced to prison over extortion

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A Paris court on Thursday sentenced the brother of France midfielder, Paul Pogba, to a three-year prison term, with two years suspended, after convicting him in a high-profile extortion case.

Mathias Pogba will be able to serve his one-year sentence with an electronic bracelet rather than behind bars.

The court also fined Pogba’s brother 20,000 euros for participating in the attempted extortion of 13 million euros ($13.5 million) from Pogba in 2022, and for putting pressure on the player, his family and his business contacts to obtain the payment.

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