Fake oil magnate jailed 175 years for duping American $629,287

Justice A. T. Mohammed of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has convicted and sentenced a fake oil magnate, Dr. Vincent Ayigor to 175 years imprisonment, for duping an American, Joseph Crews, of $629,287, in a crude oil supply scam.

He was jailed on Wednesday, December 8, 2021.

Ayigor was arraigned, alongside his company, Vanyigor Concepts Limited, before Justice M. A. Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on December 7, 2016 on 25-count charges bordering on conspiracy, uttering, forgery and obtaining money by false pretences

One of the counts reads: “That you Dr. Vincent Anyigor, Vanyigor Concepts Limited and others at large on or about the 15th day of October, 2010 at Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud obtained a sum of $243,000 only from one Joseph I. Crews, an American citizen and his company Aumenta Holdings Inc DBA AHI Commercial Finding Group, as part payment of the cost price for the logistics to supply them six million barrels of Bonny Light Crude Oil, which you claimed to have the capability to deliver to them, which pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(1)(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act”.

He pleaded “not guilty” to all the 25-count charges brought against him by the EFCC, leading a full trial that lasted five years.

EFCC’s counsel, I. Agu called eight witnesses in the course of the trial and tendered documents that eventually nailed the convict.

In his judgement, Justice Mohammed found Anyigor guilty of all the 25 charges, convicted and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on each of the counts, totalling 175 years which are to run concurrently from the date of arrest.

In addition, the court ordered the convict and his company to pay the sum of $629,267 as restitution to the victim, Joseph Crews and Aumenta Holdings Inc of the United States of America (USA).

He also ordered that Vanyigor Concepts Limited be wound up.

Anyigor commenced his journey to the Correctional Centre when the American petitioned the EFCC, that the convict collected the sum of $629,287 from him for the supply of six million barrels of Bonny Light Crude Oil, without delivering the product or returning his money to him.

Investigations by the EFCC showed that Anyigor is a leader of a syndicate scamming foreigners by parading itself as an international operator in the oil and gas sector.

He was plying his fraudulent trade by forging documents and transacting businesses bearing the name of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to Wilson Uwujaren, Head, Media and Publicity of EFCC.