Helyn Aninye: Proof of forgery presented by EFCC
Dennis Kasari, the prosecution witness in the trial of Helen Aninye, Chizobam Ben-Okafor and their company, Pon-Specialized Services Limited, on July 8, told a Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, how the defendants forged documents to fraudulently obtain subsidy from the Federal Government Petroleum Support Scheme.
At the commencement of trial on Wednesday, counsel to EFCC, Sir Steve Odiase led two witnesses in evidence. Kasari, the investigating officer and second prosecution witness, in his testimony told the court how, in the course of investigation the Commission obtained evidence that documents which the defendant used in claiming subsidy payment from the petroleum support fund were forged. According to him, the discovery emerged from a request for verification which the Commission sent to Quality Marine Services Limted, QMSL, a company with core competence in oil freighting.
“During investigation we wrote to Quality Marine Services Limited, QMSL, the company that supervised the transfer between the Vessels, MT Fulmar into MT Cape-Bradley, MT Cape-Bradley into MT Aidin, MT Aidin into MT Dani -1. In their response, he said the company disputed all the documents relating to transfers between MT Fulmar and MT Cape -Bradley; MT Cape -Bradley and MT Aidin. The disputed documents include the Certificate of Cargo Transfer, Harbour Manifest and Certificate of Quantity.
He revealed that while document provided by the defendants indicated that 13,104 MT of PMS was transferred from MT Aidin into MT Dani-1, document obtained from QMSL indicated that MT Aidin tansfered only about 3000 Metric Tonnes into MT Dani-1.
The witness further revealed that information obtained from Lyod Lease Intelligence, an agency that tracks the movement of vessels, revealed that the defendants lied about the itinerary of the vessels that supposedly brought PMS into the country between the …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
