New revelations have emerged about Oluwaseun Ogunbambo, Nigerian businessman and managing director of Fargo Petroleum and Gas Ltd, who allegedly forged documents to fraudulently claim N3.7 billion under the petrol subsidy scheme.
In his book, The Shadow of Loot & Losses: Uncovering Nigeria’s Petroleum Subsidy Fraud, former EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa details Ogunbambo’s involvement in the scam. Declared wanted by the EFCC in 2013, Ogunbambo reportedly fled the country after jumping bail during trial.
Bawa exposes how Ogunbambo, also known under multiple aliases, including “Adekunbo Oladabo Shobowale Benson,” used forged documents and fake transactions to siphon public funds. Ogunbambo allegedly issued invoices from his UK-based company, Seatac Petroleum Limited, to his Nigerian firm, Fargo Petroleum and Gas Limited, effectively invoicing himself to claim subsidy payments.
Investigations revealed that the vessels cited in import documents never docked where claimed, and property deeds used to secure loans totaling millions were forged. Ogunbambo was convicted in absentia in 2021 after years of prosecution, with EFCC presenting overwhelming evidence.
He also served a prison term in the US for identity fraud, where he falsified documents using different nationalities and birthplaces on passports. Currently, Ogunbambo awaits further prosecution in Nigeria for additional fraudulent activities involving N430 million and attempts to obtain another N180 million through forged documents.
Bawa’s account paints Ogunbambo as one of the most notorious fraudsters in Nigeria’s petroleum subsidy scandal, with a complex web of deception spanning several countries and years.
