The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday re-arraigned Petro Union Oil & Gas Company Limited and three of its directors before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos over an alleged £2.556 billion fraud.
The defendants were brought before the court on a 13-count amended charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, and attempted fraud involving a purported Barclays Bank cheque.
EFCC’s counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), informed the court of a newly amended charge and requested that it be read to the defendants to enable them to take their pleas. All defendants pleaded not guilty.
Following their pleas, the defence counsel urged the court to allow the defendants to continue on the existing bail terms, a request that was granted by Justice Aneke.
The case was adjourned to June 26 and 27, 2025, for trial.
The defendants are: Petro Union Oil & Gas Company Limited, Kingsley Okpala, Chidi Okpalaeze, and Emmanuel Okpalaeze.
The amended charge alleged that the defendants, along with one Princess Gladys Okpalaeze (currently at large), fraudulently procured and presented a Barclays Bank cheque dated December 29, 1994, in the sum of £2.556 billion, purportedly intended for investment in refinery and petrochemical infrastructure in Nigeria.
According to the EFCC, the defendants presented the cheque to Union Bank Plc and other financial institutions, knowing it had been unlawfully obtained.
The charges also allege forgery and the use of falsified documents, including forged Central Bank of Nigeria statements of account and Corporate Affairs Commission filings made in the name of a deceased person.
The EFCC further claimed that between 2006 and 2020, the defendants attempted to use the forged instruments to unlawfully obtain the funds from Union Bank.
The prosecution stated that the alleged offences violate provisions of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and the Criminal Code Act—all of which carry severe penalties upon conviction.