- The Port-Harcourt zonal office of EFCC on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 arraigned the trio of Martins Derisoma Ogbanga, Busari Adeyemi, Uwem Sunday Assan and a company: Dempo Resources Ltd., before Justice I.M Sani of the Federal High Court, sitting in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
- They were arraigned on a 19-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretences to the tune of N50million, contrary to Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
- Ogbanga and others got into trouble when they allegedly approached their victim with an offer to supply 1.8million barrels of crude oil to him, at the cost of N50million.
- To convince the victim on the genuineness of the offer, the suspects allegedly presented several documents purportedly from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. These include: Certificate of Origin, Certificate of Quality and Authority To Sell Cargo On Board MT Cosmic Jewel. Others include: Clearance for Inspection/Super Cargo On Board MT Maritime Jewel, Documentation Receipt, Cargo Manifest and Master’s Receipt For Samples.
- Convinced by the forged documents, the victim allegedly raised the money for the supply of the crude oil through a bank loan, only to discover that the offer was a scam. All the three suspects pleaded “not guilty” to the 19-count charges when they were read to them.
