Subsidy scam: Capital Oil, 3 others to account for N11bn

BY EMMA UJAH, ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF
ABUJA— Capital Oil and Gas Industry Ltd, owned by Mr. Ifeanyi Uba and three other companies are to account for a whooping N11. 4 billion for subsidy payments received without evidence of fuel supply.

The four companies are on the list of indicted oil marketing companies that have been recommended for criminal investigation by the Aig Imoukhuede Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments.  There are now 25 companies in that category.

The Federal Government had earlier published the list of 21 other companies to face criminal investigations.

Apart from Capital Oil, the three others are Alminnur Resources Ltd, Brilla Energy Ltd, as well as, Caades Oil and Gas Ltd.

Some of the companies claimed payments for consignments brought in by ships which investigations revealed were either non-existent or were somewhere else according to the Imoukhuede committee report.

An extract from the report detailing the cases against the alleged fraudulent oil marketing firms showed that some of the oil companies collected several billions of naira from the Federal Government without evidence of fuel importation.

Specifically, Alminnur Resources Ltd got subsidy payments for which mother vessels were no longer operational at the time of trans-shipment and no shipping documents. It has been asked to account for N 504,329,535.27.

It also received another N546, 700, 899.36 as subsidy payments for which mother vessels were no longer operational at the time of trans-shipment and no shipping documents.

Brilla Energy Ltd received N 963,796,199.85 as subsidy payment for which mother vessels were not found in locations claimed at the time of trans-shipment.

CAADES Oil and Gas Ltd with no evidence of sales proceeds in banks is to account for     N487,799,826.80

Capital Oil and Gas received the highest payments totaling N8, 898,180, 238.91 without evidence of supply of the fuel for which it was paid.

Its indictment was based on four separate payments as follows: Subsidy payments without proof of existence of the mother vessel bill of lading or daughter vessel bill of lading, 984,440,711.38; subsidy payments for which mother vessels were not found in locations claimed at the time of transshipment, 1,480,444,043.58; Subsidy payments for which mother vessels were not found in locations claimed at the time of transshipment, 1,832,280,164.36.

The company also received subsidy payments totaling, 2,110,438,332.44 for which mother vessels were not found in locations claimed at the time of transshipment, as well as, subsidy payments for which mother vessels were not found in locations claimed at the time of transshipment, 2,490,576,987.15