A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the closure of two companies linked to the alleged $9.6 billion Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) Ltd scandal. The companies, Trinity Biotech Nigeria Limited and Resorts Express Concept Nigeria Ltd, are associated with the fugitive Briton, Mr. James Nolan.
In separate judgments, Justice Donatus Okorowo found the companies guilty of money laundering offenses and convicted them under the relevant Act. He ordered that both firms be wound up and their assets forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Previously, on May 6, Justice Okorowo had adjourned the two separate charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the companies and Nolan for judgment, following the adoption of final written addresses from EFCC counsel Bala Sanga and defense lawyer Michael Ajara.
During the trial, the charges were amended after Nolan, a director in P&ID Ltd and the two companies, jumped bail and fled Nigeria. The EFCC requested that Nolan be tried in absentia, and he was subsequently declared wanted, with an order issued for his arrest wherever he may be found.
In a related case, the EFCC is prosecuting Resorts Express Concept Nigeria Ltd and Corrado Fantoli as the 1st and 2nd defendants before Justice Okorowo. Fantoli, another foreign associate of Nolan involved in the $9.6 billion P&ID fraud, was arraigned in absentia on November 25, 2022, facing an eight-count money laundering charge. Not present in court and unrepresented during arraignment, he was also declared wanted, with an arrest order issued following Sanga’s application.
Resorts Express Concept Nigeria Ltd and Trinity Biotech Nigeria Limited are among over 30 companies implicated in the $9.6 billion scam. Other related cases are currently before Justices Obiora Egwuatu and Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, as well as charges pending in FCT High Courts.