EFCC presents fresh evidence against Kore Holdings in $9.6b P&ID scam

From Sola Ojo, Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday tendered additional evidence against Kore Holdings Limited before Justice J. O. Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The Commission is prosecuting the company alongside Muhammed Kuchazi (now deceased) in connection with the Process & Industrial Development (P&ID) fraud portfolio on amended four-count charges that border on non-compliance with Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment requirements, money laundering, and other illegal acts.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, the Second Prosecution Witness (PW2), Umar Umar, while being led in his testimony by prosecution counsel Bala Sangha, advanced eleven documents which were tendered in evidence in court. They include a letter of request to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), a letter of request to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML), extra-judicial statements of Kuchazi which he voluntarily made to the EFCC, statements of other directors of the company—Mustapha Kuchazi, Bello Kuchazi, Belkisu Kuchazi, and Aisha Kuchazi—and the statement of PW1, Temitope Erinomo.

The witness, while disclosing that Kore Holdings Limited was not a liquidated entity but was active and conducted business in Nigeria, submitted that, “The status of Kore Holdings Limited, through our investigation and interaction with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and First Bank of Nigeria Limited, revealed that there was no evidence to show that it was liquidated or closed up because the documents showed that the company is active.

“Kore Holdings Limited and Muhammed Kuchazi continually facilitated meetings between Rilwanu Lukman, the then Minister of Petroleum, and Process and Industrial Developments (P&ID) for a fee of three per cent of the net profit of the P&ID project, which led Kuchazi to testify against the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the High Court of England and Wales in the matter of Nigeria vs P&ID in the first quarter of 2023, in which judgment was delivered in favour of Nigeria,” he said.

Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until 24 September 2025 for the continuation of the trial.