In the mafia-esque oil and gas industry, with its unwritten and understated Omertà, a Lagos High Court has convicted Walter Wagbatsoma, Adaoha Ugo-Nnadi, and their company Ontario Oil and Gas on an eight count amended charge of fuel subsidy fraud this afternoon. They were found guilty on each of the eight counts. The third dude, Babafemi Fakuade, was, however, discharged and acquitted.
As you read, Walter’s witlessness in a moment of haste translates into an avalanche of shame and retribution. The Managing Director (MD) of Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd, is caught on the barbed end of justice. An erroneous decision he made in the past has mutated to haunt him like an explosion of virulent cells.
You couldn’t have forgotten so soon how Walter was charged in the United Kingdom (UK) by the Economic Crime Unit of Lincolnshire Police, in connection with a £12 million NHS trusts fraud investigation.
Findings revealed that Walter may have unknowingly purchased “dirty” foreign exchange from an anonymous source through an intermediary in Dubai, United Arab Emirates without proper due diligence on the source of the funds before it was wired into his company’s offshore trading account. Unknown to him, the Forex was part of the NHS trusts fund being investigated in the UK. The fund was later traced to his account as the investigation continued, according to a source.
Walter was allegedly contacted about the investigation by the British authorities few months ago. Although he was initially shaken by the development, the Ontario Oil head honcho had been cooperating with investigators and even hired attorneys to represent him in the matter.
At the beginning of his travail, Walter was reportedly detained in Germany on a red notice by Interpol on the matter. The multi-millionaire businessman was detained in Germany on Monday June 6, 2016, following the issue of a European Arrest Warrant by Lincolnshire Police and was extradited to the UK on Thursday 30th June where he was charged with conspiracy to launder money and appeared at Lincoln Magistrates Court on Friday, July 1.
The investigation, named Operation Tarlac, commenced in September 2011 following a report of fraud and money laundering in excess of £12m involving Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. In September 2015, 15 suspects were charged with offences of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and conspiracy and all have since been indicted to stand trial.
A week before he was picked up by the Interpol, Walter was busy seeking wiggle room in the dragnet cast over him by Nigerian anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over N1.9 billion fuel subsidy fraud charge levelled against him. Walter, alongside Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi, Babafemi Fakuade and Ontario Oil and Gas Ltd are facing a eight-count charge bordering on fraud.
Interestingly, Walter has been convicted today in absentia as he is still in London facing another criminal charges. His partner, Ada fainted in the courtroom this afternoon when the Judge, Bisola Okunnu delivered the judgement. She was quickly rushed to the hospital.
