I only got N39 billion from fraudulent Malabu deal- Etete tells British court

Nicholas Ibekwe - 23 mins ago

National, News



Nigeria’s Attorney General played a prominent role in the deal.

In a desperate attempt to muddle-up facts, convicted felon, Dan Etete, has told a British High Court that he is not the owner of Malabu Oil and Gas and thus not the recipient of the $1.1 billion (N173 billion) fraudulently transferred to Malabu by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. The money was paid by oil giants, Shell and Eni, through the federal government, to Malabu.

Mr. Etete, a former minister of petroleum, told the court in a testimony he gave on a breach of contract suit brought against him over the sale of the controversial oil block OPL 245 that he only made N37.5 billion ($250 million) working as a consultant for Malabu, the Economist is reporting.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Mr. Etete is the sole signatory into the bank accounts that the federal government paid about $800 million (N126 billion) of the oil bloc sale into.

However, Mr. Etete, who was convicted for money laundering in France in 2007, immediately contradicted himself in the same testimony when he admitted to being the sole signatory to Malabu’s account and couldn’t provide any evidence of other shareholders.

“I put my blood, I put my life into this oil block,” he said yet he denied owning OPL245. When presented with a transcript of a recording where he said: “It’s my block” Mr. Etete denied it claiming the transcript was inaccurate.

Malabu’s Etete-appointed company secretary, Rasky Gbinigie, who claimed to be a “family friend” of Mr. Etete insisted that he had “lost the firm’s copy of the register of shareholders and all minutes of meetings, that there was no written correspondence between him, the directors and the shareholders, and that he had no documents to verify who put up the company’s original share capital.”

Mr. Etete also admitted in the court, what PREMIUM TIMES investigations had revealed, that the infamous Kweku Amafegha who was named as Malabu’s “nominee director” was an alias he uses constantly. According to him, he had open bank accounts in the past that he always used when he went out for secret missions internationally.

PREMIUM TIMES had exclusively reported how Mr. Etete, then Petroleum Minister in 1998, violated Nigerian laws by creating a fictional character, Mr. Amafegha, to be a shareholder in a newly formed company, Malabu. He then awarded two oil blocs, including the disputed OPL 245, to the company; which also had Mohammed Sani, son of then military dictator, Sani Abacha, as a shareholder.

Nondescript businessman, Zubelum Obi, owner of oil consulting firm, Energy Venture Partners Limited, EVP, who is claiming a N30 billion ($200 million) compensation for acting as middleman in the sales of oil block OPL 245, brought the breach of contract suit against Mr. Etete.

Adoke as Etete’s lawyer

Fresh fact also emerged during the trial as to why Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, played a prominent and dubious role in the fraudulent transfer of N155 billion to Mr. Etete.

The documents show that Mr. Adoke once worked as counsel to Mr. Etete. Sources knowledgeable about both men said this was during and immediately after the military era, when the ex-convict was still minister. Mr. Adoke’s spokesperson, Ambrose Momoh, did not pick calls to his phone seeking to confirm the prior relationship between both men.

Mr. Adoke has been instrumental to the success of the illegal acquisition and sale of OPL 245 by Mr. Etete using his position as the nation’s chief law officer. Following advice by Russian oil consultant, Ednan Agaev, to use the Federal government as a conduit for the transfer to Mr. Etete, Mr. Adoke willing obliged to make the shady deal sail through.

International pressure

Due to the murky nature of the deal and less-than-ethical role played by international oil firms, ENI and Shell and following pressure from anti-corruption campaigners such as Global Witness, the European Union Parliament last Wednesday voted to make EU-based resources companies disclose all payments of at least €100,000 (N21.5 million) on any project. The Canadian government is also working on enacting laws similar to the EU’s

Campaigners say this new rule will reduce corruption as well as enhance transparency in the extractive industry.

“The new transparency rules in Europe and the announcement from the Canadian Prime Minister are two key advancements for anyone who cares about fighting poverty, protecting investors, making markets more efficient, or reducing corruption,” said Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Director Raymond Baker.

“Our research shows that the developing world loses roughly US$1 trillion per year to crime, corruption, and tax evasion. This is a systemic problem caused largely by the opaque, secretive global financial system. For citizens of resource-rich countries, the new EU rules—as well as the potential Canadian rules—will shine a light in places that need it most.”

The United States Department of Justice, DoJ, is also beginning to show increasing interest in the Malabu deal with at least one of the parties involved in the sale already contacted.

DEALS for oilfields can be as opaque as the stuff that is pumped from them. But when partners fall out and go to court, light is sometimes shed on the bargaining process—and what it exposes is not always pretty. That is certainly true in the tangled case of OPL245, a massive Nigerian offshore block with as much as 9 billion barrels of oil—enough to keep all of Africa supplied for seven years.

The saga of block OPL245 began in 1998 when Nigeria’s then petroleum minister, Dan Etete, awarded it to Malabu, which had been established just days before and had no employees or assets. The price was a “signature bonus” of $20m (of which Malabu only ever paid $2m).

Where did the money go?

The attorney-general has rejected as “without basis” claims in the Nigerian press that much of the money the government paid to Malabu in the 2011 deal was “round-tripped” back to bank accounts controlled by public officials. But where that money did end up is shrouded in mystery. Of the $1.1 billion, $800m was paid in two tranches into Malabu accounts. This was then transferred to five Nigerian companies that appear to be shells. One of these, Rocky Top Resources, received $336.5m, some of which seems to have been passed on to unknown “various persons”, according to the EFCC’s report. Some $60m went to an account controlled by Mr Etete, who has said that he received $250m in total for his role in the deal. He said in court that “Malabu shareholders decided to spend their money the way they deemed fit” and that he is investing on their behalf.

Among the listed owners of three of the recipient companies is Abubakar Aliyu, who is reported to have close business ties to a senior politician, Diepreiye Alamiesegha, the former governor of Bayelsa state. Mr Alamiesegha’s skills in escapology would impress Houdini. Detained in Britain on money-laundering charges in 2005, he jumped bail. After returning to Nigeria, he was sentenced in 2007 to two years for each of six corruption-related charges, though he served only a few hours in prison. In March 2013 he received a controversial pardon from Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president. Local press reports have made unsubstantiated allegations linking both the president and Mr Alamiesegha to the Malabu deal.

The EFCC’s report states: “Investigations conducted so far reveal a cloudy scene associated with fraudulent dealings. A prima facie case of conspiracy, breach of trust, theft anmd [sic] money laundering can be established against some real and artificial persons.” Officially, the EFCC’s investigation is still open, but a source familiar with it says that its sleuths have been discouraged by higher-ups from moving forward. However, other countries’ fraudbusters have taken an interest. At least one of the parties involved in the oil-block sale has been contacted by America’s Department of Justice.

As for the legal actions brought in London against Malabu by the middlemen, the High Court is expected to rule soon on Mr Obi’s claim for $200m. Mr Agaev’s separate arbitration case, in which he sought payment of a $65.5m “success fee”, was recently settled behind closed doors.

Shell and ENI now each own half of an attractive oil block. To get it, however, they have had to strike a deal that brings with it reputational and legal risks. They might conceivably face action under their home countries’ anti-corruption laws, if enforcers reject their claim to have dealt only with the Nigerian government, not Malabu. Shell “would obviously have preferred to secure OPL245 without going within a million miles of Malabu and Etete,” says someone who was involved in the negotiations.

masterdre:

Mr. Adoke has been instrumental to the success of the illegal acquisition and sale of OPL 245 by Mr. Etete using his position as the nation’s chief law officer. Following advice by Russian oil consultant, Ednan Agaev, to use the Federal government as a conduit for the transfer to Mr. Etete, Mr. Adoke willing obliged to make the shady deal sail through.

Read details here: http://premiumtimesng.com/news/138741-i-only-got-n39-billion-from-fraudulent-malabu-deal-etete-tells-british-court.html

automaticcarzz: Oh Lord of Mercy! I shake my head when I hear Nigerdeltans complain about their region being underdeveloped. They should turn their anger against people like Etete, Ibori, Alameiseigha, Jonathan, Odili, and co. People like Etete and co are the reasons your region is not yet developed.

kingoflag:

Why should we, when we can easily blame the Hausas and the Yorubas?

$1.1billion (N173 billion) fraudulently transferred to Malabu by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Obiagelli:
Gej, ngozi, dezeani, sanusi should come and tell us who owns the account o, since his government made the payment.

ujoinme:
BECAUSE WHAT ETETE HAS STOLEN IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT SEVERAL PEOPLE FROM THOSE ETHINCITIES YOU MENTIONED HAVE STOLEN

Obiagelli:
Gej, ngozi, dezeani, sanusi should come and tell us who owns the account o, since his government made the payment.

Obiagelli:
Gej, ngozi, dezeani, sanusi should come and tell us who owns the account o, since his government made the payment.

take dat: Ngozi was not in government when the money was paid, rather it was the minister of state(finance) and Adoke that authorized the payment! Not forgetting it was order from above!

Obiagelli:
I didn't call for her arrest? If she was not in government then, does it mean she can't tell us who they paid the money to, as she is the current minister and should have access to such info.

Btw what will one person do with 39 billion, even if you spend 1 million every day

1 million * 365 = 365 million a year
3 years × 365 million = 1.09 billion
. *. 39 billion – 39 × 3 = 117 years

It will take 117 years for someone to finish 39 billion if he spends 1 million naira every day

Obiagelli:
I didn't call for her arrest? If she was not in government then, does it mean she can't tell us who they paid the money to, as she is the current minister and should have access to such info.

Btw what will one person do with 39 billion, even if you spend 1 million every day

1 million * 365 = 365 million a year
3 years × 365 million = 1.09 billion
. *. 39 billion – 39 × 3 = 117 years

It will take 117 years for someone to finish 39 billion if he spends 1 million naira every day