Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has opened its case against Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) that scammed Nigeria of several billion dollars in contracts that were never executed for which the country was asked to pay damages. In opening the court case, EFCC presented its first witness against James Richard Nolan, a Briton and others following their involvement in the controversial contract awarded to Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID). The documents tendered by the prosecution was admitted in evidence before Justice D. U. Okorowo of the Federal High Court Abuja during proceedings.
Mr Nolan alongside Goidel Resources and ICIL Limited are being prosecuted by the EFCC on a 32-count amended charge of money laundry. Wale Agunbiade, the first prosecution witness who is a banker in one of the commercial banks told the court that in August 2019 the bank received a request from EFCC to furnish them with account opening documents and statement of GOIDEL resources, ICIL Ltd and P&ID Ltd as he was the one that handled the opening of accounts for companies. He said the documents include Certificate of Incorporation, Memorandum of Article of Association, particulars of Directors and other means of identification. Mr Agunbiade said that “signatories to the account domiciled in GT Bank were James Nolan and Isaac Ebubeogu in respect of exhibit A, Goidel Resources. For ICIL, we have James Nolan, Lloyd Quinn and Adam Quinn. For the coordinate account of P&ID, we have Hitchcock Neil and James Nolan.”
When asked about the nature of the transaction by Goidel Resources from 18 May 2015 to 21 May 2015, the witness said, “the transactions on each of the mentioned days were a daily cash deposit of $10,000.” He further stated that “On the 2nd of May, 2019, an inward transfer of $47,975.00 was received into the account of Goidel Resources from Industrial Consultant International. On 1st September 2014, there were three inflows: $350,000 in favour of ICIL from Basale Enterprise, $50,000 from Baharudeen Farouk in favour of ICIL and an inflow of $10,000 from Farsman Investment Ltd. On 4 September 2014, the transaction of ICIL Ltd included chequebook issuance of $10,000 and a debit of $40,000 for reference salary payment for Neil and Elizabeth,” the witness said.
The witness also said that on February 1, 2016, the sum of $125,000 was transferred from Nolan James to Goidel Resources Ltd. The court admitted in evidence, the documents tendered by the prosecution and the matter was adjourned to today, February 15, for cross-examination and continuation of hearing. Mr Nolan was re-arraigned in October 2021 at the Abuja division of the Federal High court by the EFCC alongside two others on an amended 32 count charge bordering on money laundering. Mr Nolan, a signatory to P&ID accounts was first arraigned on October 21, 2019, on a 16 count-charge of money laundering. However, In November 2019, he was granted a N500 million bail by Justice Okon Abang who was the trial judge at the time. He was re-arraigned on October 18, before Justice D.U. Okorowo on an amended 32 count charge bordering on money laundering. P&ID, an Irish engineering company, was awarded $6.6 billion in an arbitration decision over a failed project to build a gas processing plant in the Southern Nigerian city of Calabar. With the accumulated interest payments, the sum topped $9 billion.
