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Tessy Igomu
In the past two years, all has not been well with Lagos businessman and founder of Trade Block Energy Limited, Chukwunonso Nwobi.
He said a business transaction involving his company and three other firms went awry in August 2017, adding that since then, several online publications have labelled him a swindler that was fond of obtaining money under false pretences, unlawfully converting funds and issuing dud cheques.
But Nwobi has denied that he was involved in fraudulent activities. He also debunked reports that he is on the run from the law.
The businessman, whose firm is on 10, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos, said the reports went against the law of fairness and did not reflect his own account of what actually transpired.
One of the two clients involved in the matter insisted, however, that there was no truth in the explanations made by Nwobi. He said Nwobi actually defrauded his firm and many others of millions of naira.
There have been reports that in 2017, Nwobi used Trade Block Energy Limited to defraud three companies – Bohr Maritime Limited, Hunds Oil Services Limited and Loft Limited of the sum of N44.864 million, under the pretence that he would supply the companies petrochemical products. The companies are owned by two brothers – Mr Onyeka Egwudo and Mr. Obinna Egwudo,
Nwobi, who spoke during a visit to The Sun City Office in Ikeja, said contrary to the allegations, he was a victim of circumstance. He claimed that since the business partnership with the brothers went bad due to circumstances beyond his control, he had made conscientious efforts to ensure that the duo got their money back as soon as possible.
Nwobi recalled that in August 2017, he was handed a tank farm, Zenon 1, which was formerly owned by TMS Kata, by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). He said before the handover, his company had ample supply of Automated Gas Oil (AGO), which was sold through some petroleum marketers. He explained that it was through one of the marketers that a business deal was brokered with Bohr Maritime Limited and Loft Limited, and the sum of N44.864 million meant for the supply of petrochemical products was subsequently paid into the Zenith Bank account of Trade Block Energy Limited.
The businessman explained that some litres of petroleum products were initially loaded before the stock ran out and that in the course of waiting for another oil consignment to arrive, his company paid AMCON for the acquired tank farm. He further explained that having been formally handed the oil facility, he got it rebranded to reflect the new ownership.
Nwobi regretted, though, that immediately the tank farm was rebranded, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) formally communicated to his company that Trade Block Energy Limited would not be allowed to load petroleum products into the facility until everything pertaining to licensing and documentation was finalised. He said as at the time the issues were coming up, his foreign partners had finished with the documentation for the incoming product but could not deliver because of the imbroglio with the DPR.
He said it was regrettable that the full registration of the brand, which he thought would take six weeks, dragged on for eight months. He narrated that as the months dragged on, he met with the owners of the companies that paid money into his company’s account for products and appealed to them to give him more time to resolve the contentious issues causing the delay. He also denied issuing dud cheques.
Nwobi said it was during the meeting that he issued the cheques, hoping that before they were presented, the issue with the DPR would have been resolved and petroleum products possibly supplied to the affected companies.
“Unfortunately, the day before the cheques were to be tendered, I reached out to them to hold on, as the matter with DPR did not make any headway. But they still went ahead to present the cheques. They then lodged a complaint against me at the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (Force CIID) Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos. Upon investigation, the police officers realised that the money was actually channelled into proper use. All correspondences, including Petroleum Depot Licence – DEP0050/2018, DPR Permit, Bulk Purchase Agreement with NNPC dated September 11, 2018, as well as other relevant documents to lend credence to my claims and the genuineness of Trade Block Energy were verified by the police,” Nwobi said.
The businessman said part of the move he had made so far towards engendering an amicable settlement of the matter was to reach an agreement with his aggrieved clients to take possession of his company’s Bulk Purchase Agreement to trade with NNPC. He explained that he took the step so that they could recoup their investment and other losses that could have been incurred. But he said the brothers refused.
Nwobi said in the last two years, beginning from August 2017 till date, Trade Block Energy Limited had not been able to transact any oil business, adding that the tank farm had also not been loaded with any petrochemical products.
“I have incurred so much loss but I have handed everything over to God. I made an overture to these two customers to pay them their money and whatever loss they incurred over time but they refused. I have used respected individuals in the society as well as family and friends to appeal to them but they all that is not working.”
Nwobi said he decided to go public with the issue because he still wanted an amicable settlement with the aggrieved clients. He said he would like to plead with them and assure them that he was not a fraudster but a genuine businessman.
Said he: “I have accepted responsibility for the transaction that went bad. I have also accepted that mistakes were made because I was ill advised to take the step of changing the name of the tank farm, which is the genesis of this whole problem. I am not denying the fact that they paid us money. My company has started offsetting the money gradually so that the matter can be put to rest. This matter has taken a negative toll on my health and that of my family. I have been so unsettled.
“I am praying and optimistic that we will resolve this matter amicably. We did not start this business in court and I do not believe we should end it in court. All I want is for tempers not to be flared. I am committed to ensuring that these clients do not have regrets transacting business with my company.”
But Nwobi’s explanations are not being accepted by the aggrieved clients who insisted that the busnessman’s intentions with them were apparently never noble.
Managing Director of Bohr Maritime Limited, Mr. Onyeka Egwudo, who met with the reporter at an eatery situated in a popular filling station along the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, Lagos, said it was obvious that Nwobi planned to defraud them from the beginning.
The businessman, who was in a hurry to catch a flight, claimed that Mr. Nwobi had been on the run since the dud cheques were presented. He described him as a fraudster, stressing that several others had fallen victim to the businessman’s ploys.
Egwudo said the matter was charged to court as a civil case and that judgment had been delivered even as a bench warrant was issued against Nwobi. He explained that the presentation of dud cheques, which amounted to a criminal offence, was being investigated by the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (Force CIID) Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos.
