HOW OGBULAFOR, FOUR OTHERS STOLE N104M  

Vincent Ogbulafor, PDP National Chairman

INTERNAL MEMO

TO: TEAM 3 LEADER

FROM: PAUL AHMED BASSI

DATE: 16TH MAY, 2008

RE: ICPC/P/NC/2005- MASSIVE FRAUD IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE – UPDATE AND REQUEST FOR DIRECTIVES

The above respectfully refers.

The above matter was handed over to me when Mr. Sanusi Kado left the ICPC to take up employment with the National Industrial Court. As at the time Mr. Kado left there was a request for further investigation on some specific aspects of the petition that would enable prosecution to be initiated.

FACTS
Sometimes in the year 2005, a petition by Chika Nwadibia (the petitioner) against one Emeka Ebilah (the suspect) was sent to the Commission. The petitioner alleged that the suspect used his position as a member/secretary of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC) that was verifying debts owed local contractors by the Federal Government of Nigeria to include the names of his companies and those of his cronies in the verification exercise. That the suspect along with Prince Vincent Ogbulafor who was the Minister for Special Duties (Economic Affairs) that supervised the NEIC and one Boash, the Director of Budget Implementation at the Federal Ministry of Finance conspired to verify fictitious contracts purportedly executed by companies supplied by the suspect and ensured that the Federal Government paid for these contracts. The petitioner also gave the names of the individuals who were used as fronts to collect the monies on behalf of the companies for the suspects and his co-conspirators.

INVESTIGATION
I would now proceed to give an in depth analysis of the findings of the investigators and my humble submissions as regard individual suspects.

(i) EMEKA EBILAH

The principal suspect in this matter denied all the allegations in the petition at first but later retracted his denial and made a full confession. He admitted that he used 3 companies to verify fictitious contracts in collaboration with the Director Budget Implementation, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Boash and Prince Vincent Ogbulafor and collected payments from the Federal Government totaling N104 million. The suspect also admitted using his position to include names of his companies which had executed contracts for the Federal Government in the verification exercise and ensured that they were paid.

The suspect then proceeded to give a breakdown of what each individual received from the proceeds of the fraud and voluntarily refunded his share which come up to N4million. He gave photocopies of the cheques he used to distribute the money to the other individuals and also his bank statement. All payments were made through Africa International Bank (AIB) Plc Enugu branch cheques. A breakdown of the sharing formula is as follows:

(a) Emeka Ebilah – N4.3million

(b) Prince Vicent Ogbulafor – N28 million through a proxy Mr. Chris Nwoke and a N2 million cheque in this (Ogbulafor’s name).

Ahmed Bassi (P. A. Bassi for short) and my younger brother’s name is Daniel Ahmed Bassi (D.A. Bassi for short). I find it impossible to believe that the BC Bosah in whose name a N10 million cheque was issued by Ebilah is not a relation/nominee of Emmanuel Bosah. I asked the investigators to confront him on this and he denied knowing anyone like that but in my humble opinion, the AIB records would also reveal the identity of BC Bosah. Mr. EC Bosah had supplied documents to prove that he is not BC Bosah but it is too much of a coincidence for a BC Bosah to benefit from the scam he is implicated in and for him not to known the person.

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Furthermore, I asked the investigators to conduct a search at the CAC which revealed the identity of the Directors of Emotech. Mr. Emmanuel Okocha who along with his daughter are the Directors of Emotech Nig. Ltd admitted knowing Mr. Emmanuel Chukwurah Bosah (EC BOSAII) and said that EC Bosah had been his customer since the days when EC Bosah was resident in Lagos and that the EC Bosah had approached him with a business proposal for the 2 of them to go into and EC Bosah and brought 2 cheques of a total value of N44 million in his company (Emotech) name for him to clear and that the money was to be used in the business venture. Mr. Okocha paid the money into his company account and paid out various sums into different accounts as directed by EC Bosah. Bosah finally decided that he wasn’t going ahead with the business and asked for the balance of the N44 million to be given back to him. While part of the money was given back in cash. Okocha said the last payment was made through a Zenith Bank Draft. Okocha also provided the account numbers which he had paid various sums into on instructions of Bosah. When the investigators brought the report on Okocha, I commended their efforts at tracing him but I explained that investigation should be conducted on the accounts as provided by Okocha and also the draft he mentioned to provide concrete evidence of the link between EC Bosah and Okocha. The account holders would need to explain their link to EC and that would suffice in court for a conviction in my humble opinion. I have not gotten feedback from the investigators but I believe that this evidence can be used whenever it becomes available and have gone ahead to draft appropriate charges against EC Bosah while using Okocha as a witness. Managers of Okocha’s bank and all other banks listed by Okocha would also be used as witnesses.

HENRY IKOH
Henry Ikoh was the person who appeared before the NEIC committee to verify the fictitious contract purportedly executed by Henchiriko Nig. Ltd. He was alleged to have received a total sum of N7.5million as his share of the scam and he admitted his role and accordingly made refunds to the government. Charges have been drafted against him.

JUDE NWOKORO
Jude Nwokoro was the person who was authorized by Ebilah to receive payment on behalf of one of the companies used in the scam (Henchiriko Nig. Ltd) Jude Nwokoro. He was alleged to have received a total sum of N6.2million and admitted tat in his statement. He also made refunds and charges have been prepared against him.

RECOMMENDATION
While I have framed charges against the 5 suspects, it is my humble opinion that we cannot wait till infinity for AIB situation to be resolved. More charges can be brought against the suspects if we have access to the information required. I must however admit that it might be difficult to present certain financial instruments into evidence in the absence of an official of the AIB. Cheques and bank statements would need to be tendered into evidence at trial. I must here make an observation about the attitude of the CBN and NDIC. The CBN chose not to respond to enquiries about cheques issued by Ebilah (at least to the best of my knowledge) while the NDIC blows hot and cold. The NDIC supplied details of the draft issued by Ebilah to Ogbulafor for N2 million but refused to do so when asked about the other cheques. They kept referring the Commission to either CBN or the Diamond Bank Plc with no results.

I would humbly recommend that these charges against the 5 suspects be filed and the Commission to prevail upon the CBN and NDIC to furnish us with the details sought.. Furthermore, the investigation department should be reminded of the need to forward the result of the investigation carried out on the accounts supplied by Emmanuel Okocha.

Respectfully submitted for further directives please.