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Mrs Ada Ugo-Ngadi, Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited and Walter Wagbatsoma, the company’s chairman, were on Thursday sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for defrauding the Federal Government of N754 million in oil subsidy claims.
Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos High Court handed the judgement following a case files by the EFCC.
A statement signed by Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC, Head Media & Publicity, said that the commission had arraigned the convicts in the court on August 1, 2013 alongside Mr Babafemi Fakuade, an official of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
He said they were arranged on charges of forgery, conspiracy and altering of document to commit fuel subsidy fraud.
Uwujaren, however, said that the judge found Fakuade not guilty and acquitted him on the charges.
He said that the court had in its ruling of January 13 found the duo of Wagbatsoma and Ugo-Ngadi guilty of all charges and convicted them.
“Court could not pass sentence on them due to the dramatic occurrence when one of the convicts (Ugo- Ngadi) collapsed in court and was subsequently hospitalised.
Uwujaren, however, said Justice Okunnu in her judgment finally sentenced Wagbatsoma and Ugo-Ngadi to a minimum of ten years in prison for the six count charge proffered against them by the EFCC.
“For each of the counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences the defendants were sentenced to ten years in prison.
“For the count of conspiracy to commit forgery, the defendants were sentenced to seven years in prison
“For the of offence of forgery, the defendants were sentenced to eight years in prison,” Okunnu said.
The spokesman noted that the sentence passed by the judge was a total of 69 years for each of the convicts but the sentence was to run concurrently.
He said that judge, in the course of pronouncing judgment on Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, gave an order of restitution for Ontario Oil and Gas Limited to return N754million to the Federal Government.
Uwujaren said that conviction and sentencing is the first of the many cases of oil subsidy fraud currently under prosecution in various courts.
Uwujaren noted that as the proceeding ended, prison warders, lawyers of the convicts and their family members molested the cameraman of EFCC for taking pictures of the convicts.