For defrauding people of $1.2 million through an EB-5 visa scam and an additional $368,698.24, the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced an American businessman and architect of Nigeria’s phoney stolen crude in China, Marco Antonio Ramirez, to 74 years in jail.
The long hand of the law finally caught up with Ramirez as Justice Mojisola Dada delivered her judgment on Tuesday that found Ramirez guilty of all the 16-count charges unrelated to the crude oil scam slammed on him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Persecondnews broke the news in 2020 of the phoney stolen Nigerian crude found in China in 2015 about the alleged intention of the NNPC to sell the 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude which they alleged had been stolen from Nigeria and stored in tank farms in China.
The letter from Lords & Temple also claimed Mr Tinajero provided the information about the stolen crude to then NNPC Group General Manager (GGM) Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD) Malam Mele Kyari who was the NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD) when the letter was written by the law firm, the late Chief of Staff to the President and retired Air Commodore Umar Mohammed Gololo.
The law firm claimed their client became aware in October 2015 of the efforts by the NNPC to sell the allegedly stolen crude in China and wrote an email to Malam Mele Kyari through an associate of their client a certain Marco Antonio Ramirez expressing their interest to buying the crude but did not receive a positive response from Kyari or the Nigerian Government.
The law firm also claims officials of their client were exposed to the threat of life harassment and persecution for seeking compensation from the Nigerian government for the information they provided about allegedly stolen crude oil cargoes in China and subsequently wrote additional letters to the then Minority Leader of the Senate Senator Godswill Akpabio and the former Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Malam Lawal Musa Daura about their claims.
The letter from the law firm was accompanied by attachments which were published by Point Blank News and included alleged authorization by NNPC bonny terminal for the sale of 9 million barrels of crude oil in storage in unverified tank farms in China which was allegedly part of an approved quantity to be lifted from the Bonny terminal, alleged storage information from the tank farms in China.
However, during its investigation in 2023, the House of Representatives Committee had discovered that neither Ramirez or Tinajero had provided or has been able to provide the identity of the so-called group in China that alerted Mr Tinajero to the existence of up to 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil in China to ascertain the veracity of their claims.
However, Justice Dada, ruling that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, found Ramirez guilty as charged and sentenced him on all the counts.
Ramirez received sentences of eight years each for counts one to six, 10 years each for counts seven and eight, 10 years each for obtaining money under false pretences, and 10 years each for stealing on counts 13 to 16.
The EFCC said Ramirez and his companies, USA Now LLC, Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, obtained the money from their victims by promising them access to the Employment-Based Fifth Preference United States of America Investor Programme, which would qualify them to be eligible for the issuance of USA Green Card and permanent residency, but that the convict reneged on his promise.
Instead, Ramirez converted the funds for his personal use.
Dada ruled: “The convict dishonestly converted the money meant for investments to his personal use.
“The prosecution has successfully proved that the promises made to the victims were false, and the funds obtained were under fraudulent pretences.”
The EFCC said Ramirez’s fraudulent activities took place in 2013, noting that one of the victims, Godson Echegile, lost $545,000 to Ramirez under the false pretext that it was a processing fee for his investment, which would qualify him for a U.S. Green Card through the EB-5 program.
He was initially arraigned on 12 counts bordering on fraud and pleaded not guilty, but the EFCC amended the charge, and Ramirez was rearraigned on 16 counts on June 24, 2022.
The American was said to have committed the offences on February 5 and April 18, 2013, in Lagos.
When the trial commenced, the prosecution counsel, M.S. Owede, who led Samuel Daji, tendered several documentary evidence and called witnesses to prove the allegations against him, and he was cross-examined by the defence counsel, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN).
The case suffered several adjournments at the stage of adoption of final written addresses before counsel in the suit eventually adopted their final addresses on May 8, 2024, and the judge adjourned for judgment.
Dada found Ramirez guilty as charged and sentenced him to 10 years each on counts one to 12 bordering on obtaining by false pretence and 10 years each on counts 13 to 16 bordering on stealing.
The judge also found him guilty on another separate amended nine-count charge bordering on $368,698.24 fraud.
In another case, Ramirez was found guilty of defrauding another victim, Gabriel Ogie Edeoghon, for $250,000 on July 26, 2013.
He falsely claimed that the money was for an investment in the USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, which would make Edeoghon eligible for a U.S. Green Card through the EB-5 visa program.
Ramirez also received additional sentences of eight years each on counts one through six and 10 years each on counts seven and eight.
Persecondnews had reported that Marco Antonio Ramirez had previously been indicted for crimes in the United States and was found guilty in Nigeria of defrauding Nigerians to the tune of $ 2.5 million and is currently serving a jail term in the Ikoyi prisons.
Alhaji Ahmed Hamma Saleh himself was defrauded by Mr Ramirez after he paid what he believed would be an investment towards American citizenship.
“The credibility and character of the individuals who made the allegations of stolen Nigerian crude oil cargoes in China are clearly questionable and was emphasized by their desire for monetary compensation from the Nigerian government for information that was not corroborated and did not lead to any recovery by the Nigerian government which is the premise upon which compensation can be considered in line with the whistleblower policy of the government after a formal agreement in that regard which did not happen in this instance,” the report also said.
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