Court Convicts Three Indian Nationals For Crude Oil Theft

15 May, 2014

Three Indian nationals were on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for oil theft by a Federal High Court sitting in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State.

The convicts whose names were given as Ajay Bhatiya; the owner of the vessel, Sailesh Kumar Singh; the Captain of the vessel, as well as Chadrashekar Sharma.
The convicts, who were among 12 suspected oil thieves arrested aboard a vessel, MT Akshay by officers of the Joint Task Force, Central Naval Command operating in Yenegoa, were handed over to officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for further investigation and prosecution.
According to Wison Uwujaren, the EFCC spokesperson, the suspects comprised eight other Indians, one Ghanaian and a Nigerian.
He said they were arraigned on two counts on January 22, 2013 before Justice Lambo Akanbi.
The charges against the suspects read in part, "That you,  Sailesh Singh, Chadrashekar Sharma, Dharmaraj Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Nimesh Parambil, Ashraf Ali, Sanjeev Kumar, Sarbjot Singh, Arvind Bhaedwaj, Gagan Kumar, Dele Olayemi and Benneth Egbegi,  being crew members in MT Akshay with Ajay Bhatiya (now at large) on or about the 25th day of November, 2012 in Brass, Bayelsa State, within the Jurisdiction of this honourable court, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit; dealing in Petroleum Product and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAP M17 of the Revised Edition(Laws of the Federation".
The anti-graft spokesman said that the court convicted the first and two accused persons alongside the owner of the vessel on count one which is conspiracy, while the other accused persons; Dharmaraj Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Nimesh Kodi Parambil, Ashraf Ali, Sanjeev Kumar, Sarbjot Singh, Arvind Kumar Bhardwaj, Gagan Kumar, Dele Johnson Olayemi and Benneth Egbegi, were all discharged and acquitted on the two counts levied against them by the EFCC.