The operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have shut down a subsidiary of oil marketers, Obat oil as crisis looms.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has shut down a tank farm belonging to Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited at Kirikiri, Lagos, for alleged diversion of subsidy payment, according to the Nation.
Petrocam Trading Nigeria Limited had reported Obat Oil to EFCC for allegedly diverting N1.2 billion, which it secured as loan from Sterling Bank on behalf of Obat Oil under a Joint Venture Transaction Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to finance the importation of 15,000 metric tonnes of petrol for Obat under the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) import permit for Q2, Q3 and Q4 of 2014.
Rather than pay back the loan, the oil marketer alleged that the money was diverted into the personal account of Obat’s Chairman, Oba Frederick Akinrutan.
Petrocam said in a document that it jointly signed an agreement with Obat to secure a loan to finance the business, whether by its own resources or through its bank, a condition Obat allegedly agreed to.
While the marketer advances to finance the business from Sterling Bank Plc, a collection account no. 0020560534 was opened in the name of Obat Oil and Petroleum Limited with the bank to take receivables from the transaction for the purpose of repaying the loans.
However, it was later discovered that Obat Oil allegedly diverted the N1.2 billion meant for Petrocam to Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s (AMCON) account to clear a debt.
Managing Director of Petrocam Mr. Patrick Ilo, in a statement dated November 13, 2015, said: “Based on the agreement, Petrocam established six Letters of Credits with our facility at Sterling Bank, bearing the total risk of the transactions. It was further agreed that Petrocam will make an advance payment of the sum liable to Obat up front before subsequent transactions after the first two transactions were concluded, an obligation which Petrocam carried out to the letter by making payments in tranches to Obat account details.
“But because of the devaluation, the government agreed to pay oil marketers affected the Foreign Exchange differential, as well as the accrued interest. This led us to signing an addendum to the initially executed MoU stating that all accrued interest on these transactions will be paid to the account of Petrocam Trading Nigeria Ltd.”