I’m very sorry, I’ve learned my lesson — Says Nigerian man jailed for defrauding British Airways of N35.6 million

The Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos has convicted and sentenced one Idris Bakare to four years imprisonment for defrauding British Airways of the sum of N35.6 million.

Justice O. O. Abike-Fadipe gave the judgment on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
Bakare was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on four counts bordering on stealing to the tune of N35,672,845.00 (Thirty-Five Million, Six Hundred and Seventy-two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Five Naira).

The offence is contrary to Section 280(2) and punishable under section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015. One of the counts reads: “Idris Bakare Adeyemi, Dauda Adegboyega and Zuraai Gold Ventures, between 23rd October 2019 and 31st December 2019 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly converted to your use the total sum of N35,672,845.00 (Thirty-five Million, Six Hundred and Seventy-two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Five Naira) belonging to British Airways.”

He pleaded “guilty” to the charges when they were read to him. Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, Z. I. Atiku, called an EFCC investigative officer, Mojibola Adekunbi, for a review of the facts. Adekunbi, in her review of facts, told the court that the Commission received a petition from British Airways on January 19, 2022, against Total Nigeria Plc and Asharam Energy.

The petitioner, Adekunbi, alleged that Total Nigeria Plc, British Airways’ engineers and Sahara Energy conspired to invoice aircraft Jet A1 fuel above what had been uploaded onto the British Airways aircraft to the tune of N363,780,248.53k and that the fraudulent practice had been going on since 2018. According to her, an investigation revealed that the convict, a former contract staff member of Total Plc, was a ‘fueller,’ who dispensed Jet A1 fuel via bowser vehicle with a hose to the aircraft. [Swipe]