Nemesis
may have finally caught up with ex-convict and former Governor of Edo State,
Lucky Igbinedion, as he has lost over N3.3 billion to Venezuelan fraudsters, in
a deal that bears all the marks of a classic 419 scam, PREMIUM TIMES can
authoritatively reveal.
Court
documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES also suggest that Mr. Igbinedion may be
insolvent, as two US-based law firms have walked away from a $600 million
lawsuit he instituted against the alleged mastermind and the Venezuelan state
owned
oil company, Petroleos De Venezuela S.A (PDVSA), over his inability to
pay retainer as low as N627,000.00 ($3,800.00).
Mr.
Igbinedion plundered Edo State treasury for the eight years he was governor. He
escaped jail after he reached a controversial plea bargain agreement with the
Farida Waziri-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which dropped
all but one of the 191 charges of corruption and money laundering against him.
In
2008, a Federal High Court in Enugu sentenced him to six months in prison with
the option of a N3.5 million fine. The controversial plea bargain agreement he
reached with the EFCC also required that he return N500 million and three of
the houses he acquired with stolen public funds to the Federal Government.
But
it’s not yet Uhuru for Mr. Igbinedion as the Court of Appeal in Benin ruled on
April 9, 2014 that he has a case to answer over a fresh 66-count money
laundering and financial impropriety suit brought against him by the EFCC. A
Federal High Court had ruled in 2011 that it would amount to double jeopardy
and abuse of court process to try him again after the plea bargain he entered
with the EFCC.
He
has been accused of stealing over N3 billion from Edo State’s treasury.
Classic
419-scam
In
2006, looking to cash in on the lucrative but fraud-tainted fuel importation
business, the ex-governor’s front and Managing Director of Skanga Energy and
Marine Limited, a company formed by Mr. Igbinedion and his brother, Bright, in
1992, Christian Imoukhuede, approached the then Venezuelan Trade Consul to
Nigeria, Enrique Arrundell, about the prospect of importing petrol, aviation
fuel, and diesel from the South American country.
According
to documents filed with a US District Court in New York, Mr. Arrundell advised
Mr. Imoukhuede that the best way to get fuel was to go through a PDVSA approved
agent.
Mr.
Arrundell then introduced Mr. Imoukhuede to Arevenca, a fraudulent firm owned
by alleged notorious Venezuelan conman, Francisco Gonzalez.
That
meeting with Mr Gonzalez marked the beginning of Mr Igbinedion’s woes.
Mr.
Igbinedion and his front, Mr. Imoukhuede claimed in court that they did due
diligence checks on Arevenca through the Venezuelan embassy in Abuja. They
claim that embassy officials confirmed Arevenca as a reputable Venezuelan
business concern and validated documents provided by Arevenca that supposedly
showed a relationship with PDVSA.
But
it has since turned out that Arevenca might be a complete fraud. PDVSA has
since said in court that it has no records of any relationship with Arevenca.
Arevenca
is a registered corporation under Venezuelan law but was most recently
headquartered in Aruba. Its subsidiaries are: Arevenca AKTM, registered in
British Virgin Islands; Arevenca SL, registered in Spain; and Arevenca Aruba
Holding NV.
Others
are Arevenca Bank, Arevenca Foundation, Fly Aruba Suriname, Arevenca Mining and
Arevenca Petroleum Company registered in offshore tax haven, Suriname. There is
Arevenca Finances Holding registered in Switzerland and Arevenca Ivory Coast.
Many
of these subsidiaries are shell companies or exist only in names.
A
Canadian-based freelance journalist, Steven Bodzin, who worked as an energy
reporter in Venezuela and has written a number of exposés on Arevenca, revealed
that Arevenca’s website is a repository of mind-numbing lies meant to hoodwink
mostly unsuspecting international investors.
For
instance, on its website, Arevenca claims to have a global refining capacity of
2.5 million barrels per day and plans to build a two million barrel per day
refinery in Ivory Coast.
It
also claims to have a fleet of 72 ships.
However,
the company with the highest refining capacity in the world as at September
2013, Reliance Jamnagar Refinery, India, has a refining capacity of only 1.24
million barrels per day.
In
fact, Arevenca is not listed among the top ten refineries in the world. The
only Venezuela-based refinery in the top 10, Paraguana Refining Centre, belongs
to PDVSA and has a processing capacity of just 955,000bpd.
And
despite claiming to have 75 vessels, a PREMIUM TIMES search on Lloyds Ship
Directories shows that Arevenca does not operate from any of Venezuelan’s 16
ports. There is also no proof that the company is building a two million barrel
per day refinery in Ivory Coast as it claimed.
These
are just few of the web of lies contained in Arevenca’s website. Other
false claims made by the company to defraud investors can be found on Mr. Bodzin’s blog.
In
October 2006, Mr. Imoukhuede, who was Mr. Igbinedion’s schoolmate, arrived at
the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas and was ushered into the VIP
lounge of the facility and later given a luxury ride to the exquisite
InterContinental Tamanaco, rated among the top three hotels in the country.
It
was at Intercontinental Tamanaco that Mr. Imoukhuede had initial negotiation
with Mr. Gonzalez and an unnamed Nigerian.
After
the meeting, Skanga reached a tentative agreement to buy “petroleum products”
from Arevenca. Arevenca also agreed to give Skanga the first right of refusal
to buy its AGO (diesel), PMS (premium motor spirit) DPK (kerosene), Jet Al
fuel, Bitumen and Fuel oil.
The
deal was to take off with a 35,000 metric tones of AGO in the first instance
and then grow into about three cargoes monthly, according to an official
statement by Skanga.
Bank
transfer documents show that Skanga paid $1.05 million of the $1.4 million cost
of freight.
Skanga’s
officials claimed during interrogation in court that their company made these
payments ($580,000 and $470,000) based on the proof of certain “inducement
documents which included an alleged PDVSA bill of lading.
After
Skanga made these initial payments, it became trapped. The duping of the former
governor and his corrupt clan began in full swing.
Igbinedion
goes to Caracas
In
January 2007, four months before the expiration of his governorship term, Mr.
Igbinedion travelled to Caracas, ostensibly on an official visit and possibly
lavishing Edo state money on the deal. But our investigations indicate
the visit was to put finishing touches to the deal earlier reached by his front
three months earlier.
According
to the Bolivarian News Agency (ABN), Mr. Igbinedion and his entourage were
purportedly met by some of the influential “Chavista” politicians in the
country, as supporters of the late Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chávez, are called:
the Mayor of Central Caracas, Freddy Bernal, the Governor of Miranda, Diosdado Cabello,
and Deputy Foreign Minister for Africa, Reinaldo Bolívar as well as other top
Venezuelan government officials and businessmen.
It
was an elaborate event accompanied by lavish photo op, expensive alcohol and
dinner in the evening at the “Gran Melia Hotel, another top three luxury hotel
in Venezuela, according to luxury hotel reservations website, Five Star
Alliance.
Mr.
Igbinedion was handed the key to the city of Caracas and announced as the
“Alcaldía de Libertador”, the honorary Mayor of the central Caracas borough of
Libertador. He also held a meeting with top officials of the Venezuelan Foreign
Ministry at their headquarters, the Yellow House.
But
the whole fanfare was a grand charade and part of a well orchestrated
confidence trick put together by some of the most devious conmen in Latin
America.
It
later appeared that Mr. Gonzalez received an intensive course on Nigerian
niceties. Emails from Mr. Arrundell and Gonzalez to Mr. Igbinedion have
that uniquely Nigerian informality. Rather than write in a formal manner as one
would have expected of parties in a multi-million dollar deal, they addressed
Mr. Igbinedion as “My brother Lucky” or “Dear brother Lucky.”
One
letter by Mr. Gonzalez, filled with grammatical errors, reads:
Dear brother lucky
I already send the dignity
signed invoice.
You know what this mean.
Nobody do this, but
I always honored my word, agins all the logical and normal status.
I prefer died that
do not honored my word.
This is another
demonstration that I am a honor man.
That mean that the
product is yours.
I trust you like a brother I hope you do not let me
down.
I do not want disappoint you, I hope you do not
disappoint me.
Best regards,
You brother and
friend
Francisco JAvier Gonzalez
The
geniality of Mr. Gonzalez’s letters coupled with the grand reception, some
would say deception, he during his “official” visit to Caracas apparently made
Mr. Igbinedion even more trusted of the Venezuelan gang.
Nigerian
thief, money launderer, is scammed
After
a couple of other meetings later that year, Arevenca made Skanga a deal too
good to be true: a consignment of 35,000 metric tonnes of diesel will be sent
to Skanga.
All
it needed to do was to prepay the charges for delivery and complete the full
payment for the delivery in three months.
Mr.
Igbinedion could not believe his luck. Skanga promptly transferred $19.6
million more to Arevenca’s Swiss bank account as freight charges and partial
payment for two consignments of Petrol and diesel aboard two vessels named
“Digniti” and “Ventur.”
The
vessels never arrived.
The
Nigerian Port Authority said it does not have any record of “Digniti” or
“Ventur” entering Nigerian waters at the time it was billed to arrive.
In
fact, PREMIUM TIMES investigation reveals that there are no vessels named
“Dignitii” or “Ventur”. Searches on Lloyd’s directories and other ship
directories show that the ship don’t exist anywhere in the world.
All
efforts made to contact the Venezuelan embassy to confirm the extent to which
Mr. Arrundell, who has been posted out of the country, was involved in the scam
was unsuccessful.
The
embassy’s phone number seems to be out of order and emails were returned as
undelivered.
Mr.
Imoukhuede declined to comment when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES. He explained
that since the case is in court, Skanga’s lawyer was in the best position to
make public comments on the matter.
“You
know the case is in court. I don’t think I am at ease to talk about it. I would
have to talk to the lawyer. I can’t make any comment. The Nigerian legal system
is different from the American system. The best thing is to talk to Femi Salu,”
he said.
Source: Premium Times
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