The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced the prosecution of Petro Union Oil and Gas Company Limited over an alleged £2.56 billion fraud involving a forged Barclays Bank cheque.
The company was arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, on a seven-count amended charge bordering on forgery, conspiracy, and obtaining money by false pretence.
At the proceedings, prosecution counsel, Adebiisi Adeniyi, informed the court of the amended charge and applied for it to be read so the defendant could take its plea.
Defence counsel, Chris Obiaka, objected, arguing that the charge was irregular because a previous version of the case had five defendants and the others had not been formally discharged.
Responding, Adeniyi told the court that the charge before it was a fresh one and explained that the other defendants were being prosecuted separately before another Federal High Court in Abuja.
Justice Faji overruled the objection and directed the court registrar to read the charge to the representative of Petro Union. The company pleaded not guilty to all the counts.
Following the plea, the court adjourned the matter to February 16, 17 and 18 for commencement of trial.
According to the charge, the alleged offence dates back to December 1994, when Petro Union and its then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Isaac Okpalaeze (now deceased), allegedly forged a Barclays Bank cheque dated December 29, 1994, in the sum of £2,556,000,000, made payable to Gladstone Kukoyi & Associates.
The prosecution alleged that the cheque was presented under the false pretence that the funds were meant for foreign investment in the construction of three petrochemical complexes in Nigeria, knowing same to be false.
One of the counts alleged that the company attempted to obtain money by false pretence by presenting the forged cheque to Union Bank of Nigeria Plc in December 1994, an offence contrary to the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
The EFCC further alleged that between 2006 and 2012, Petro Union attempted to obtain £2.16 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as proceeds of the same cheque, despite knowing that the cheque had been seized by the commission in December 2005.
The remaining counts accused the company of conspiring to defraud the CBN and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc by repeatedly demanding the £2.5 billion sum, knowing that the documents relied upon were forged.
