Barely 30 hours after Nigeria’s House of Representatives cleared the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd and its Managing Director, Mele Kyari and a senior official, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe of any wrong doing or complicity in the phoney sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil, Mrs Bebe Ann Ramirez, the wife of one of the fraudsters in the crude oil saga, Mr Marco A. Ramirez, is set to be jailed by a U.S. Court.
Guilt-racked Bebe Ann Ramirez, who is currently on bail but barred from travelling out of the U.S., was previously set for sentencing on May 4, 2023 but now due for sentencing on August 3, 2023 in the 9th floor courtroom of United States District Court, 1701 W. Business Highway 83, McAllen, Texas, Persecondnews U.S. correspondent reports.
Like her husband, Ramirez, who is confirmed by the U.S. Government, as a global conman wanted in the country for mail and wire fraud as well as felony, Bebe Ann Ramirez, has pleaded guilty to Count One of the Superseding Indictment.
Mrs. Ramirez has requested that the court should grant her permission to travel to Odessa, Texas from June 16 to June 21, 2020 to assist her son with relocating to Odessa, a recent college graduate, who was to begin a new job on June 22, 2020.
Persecondnews gathered that Mrs. Ramirez is the “sole parent’’ providing care for her son and had fully complied with the conditions of her release.
Mrs. Ramirez is presently on bond pending her sentencing and her travel is limited by the conditions of her bond.
Defendant Bebe Ann Ramirez had “respectfully requested’’ that the unopposed motion be granted and accordingly, the court had granted her permission to travel, according to Jason M. Davis, Attorney-in-Charge State Bar No. 00793592 Southern District ID No. 20114.
Counsel had conferred with Assistant United States Attorney David Lindenmuth, who has indicated that the government was unopposed to the motion.
Persecondnews had last year reported that Mr Marco A. Ramirez masterminded the story of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil “abandoned and stolen’’ in the China ports of Qingdao in May 2015 which he alleged involved Kyari and Komolafe, the then Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division of the NNPC, documents in possession of this newspaper point to the fact that he (Marco A. Ramirez) had been indicted by a District Court in Texas for attempt and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, fraud by wire, radio and television.
On July 28, 2020, Persecondnews had broken the story about a snow job by some international crude oil fraudsters which had triggered a controversial request for the payment of 5 per cent whistleblower compensation in respect of alleged stolen 48 million barrels of crude and “ferried’’ to China.
Investigations revealed that the request for the 5 per cent whistleblower’s fee and the allegedly stolen crude were cooked and orchestrated by a serial criminal, Marco Antonio Ramirez, the American associate of the sole administrator of SAMANO and his representative in Nigeria and fugitive wanted in U.S. since 2012, to defraud the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
According to Per Second News findings, the fraudsters and professional blackmailers, their U.S. and Mexican based collaborator and Nigerian lawyer are fraudulently pressing for the compensation as whistleblowers for providing false and unauthenticated information on a non-existent oil deal or “abandoned’’ oil in China.
They had launched a subtle, close-knit plot to fleece Nigeria of millions of dollars of its crude oil through blackmail, intimidation and the use of the media.
SAMANO had claimed that it discovered about 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil abandoned in the China ports of Qingdao, Zhoushan and Rhizao in May 2015 before President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration.
On the “abandoned’’ oil worth $2.5 billion purportedly sold by Kyari and others which they claimed was not remitted into government coffers, some officials – Mr. Rabiu Suleiman and Mr. Gbenga Komolafe – at different times went to China and did not find any oil with Nigeria’s seal or fingerprint.
While the investigation was ongoing, Marco A. Ramirez had traveled to Nigeria to collect money from unsuspecting high-profile Nigerians, promising to help them emigrate to the U.S. and vowing to get them U.S Citizenship together with their immediate families.
He was said to have collected over $500,000.00 (Five hundred thousand dollars) from vulnerable Nigerians. Luck had reportedly run out on him and was arrested.
His arrest in Nigeria was in connection with a company he owns together with his wife in the U.S named “USA NOW” from which they reportedly defraud innocent citizens of Mexico and Nigerians with the promise of green cards, using the U.S EB-5 Visa Programme.
The U.S. has, according to reports, set a sentencing date for his wife, Bebe Ramirez, and brother David Perez scheduled for August 6, 2020.
Ramirez was said to have come into Nigeria with an American passport, and the Federal Government, through the office of the DSS had to write to the American Embassy to report his criminality.
A source said that the US government, in a reply to the AGF confirmed that Ramirez was a fugitive who was being looked for in America in connection with a $2 million fraud, adding that the US Embassy requested the AGF to facilitate the process of extradition of the alleged crook back to America.
A United States District Court, according to findings by Per Second News, had issued a bench warrant for his arrest with his wife, Bebe Ramirez and his brother, David Perez.
According to FBI indictment, Marco Ramirez is wanted for various advance fee fraud crimes, and also engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity and conspiracy to commit fraud.
In court transcripts obtained by Per Second News dated April 26, 2016, the U.S District Court, Southern District Texas ordered for bench warrant against Marco A. Ramirez.
On Thursday, June 8, the House of Representatives, after launching an investigation through its Ad-hoc Committee, had absolved the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) of any wrongdoing in the alleged loss of over $2.4bn in revenue from the illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in 2015 including crude oil exports from 2014 to date.
Specifically, the House Committee in its recommendations, stated that there is no evidence of wrongdoing against the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Malam Mele Kyari with regards to the allegations, Persecondnews had reported.
Also absolved is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe who was the Executive Director of NNPC Upstream department when the allegations were made.
According to the Committee’s findings, it would take about six months and 12 days for Nigeria produce up to 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s bonny light as it produces about 250,000 barrels of bonny light crude daily and is exported mainly from one terminal (Bonny).
“It is not feasible to think for over half a year the entire quantity of this very sought after type of crude oil grade produced by Nigeria and exported from this terminal was stolen out of the country without trace.
“48 million barrels of crude translates to not less than 48 vessel cargoes of crude oil using the usual maximum loading quantity of averagely around 950,000 barrels per vessel with adequate draft at the terminal,’’ the lawmakers said.
