By TAIYE AGBAJE

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday convicted Mr James Nolan, a Director in the Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) Ltd, in absentia, in the money laundering offences preferred against him by the EFCC.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu, in a judgment, also found a company, Micad Project City Services Ltd, guilty as charged and accordingly convicted.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Micad Project City Services Ltd, a subsidiary of P&ID Ltd, and Nolan before the judge as 1st and 2nd defendants.

They were arraigned on 20-count charge of money laundering, forgery and obtaining by false pretense, and were arraigned in 2022.

After the prosecution closed its case by calling six witnesses and tendered several documents as exhibits, the defendants, through their lawyer, Michael Ajara, chose to rest their case on that of the prosecution.

They opted not to call evidence in rebuttal of the charge against them.

Delivering the judgment on Monday, Justice Egwuatu convicted Nolan in all the counts, except in Count 13.

The judge held that the British national, who jumped bail during the trial, would be sentenced once the defendant is arrested and brought before the court by the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL).

He also convicted Micad Ltd in respect of Counts 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11.

“I am satisfied that the prosecution (EFCC) called credible witnesses and tendered documentary evidence to establish its case against the defendants,” the judge held.

The judge, however, struck out Count 13 because the alleged offence which the defendants were charged with, predated the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011.

The judge, who also found the defendants guilty of forgery offence, agreed with the argument of the EFCC’s lawyer, Bala Sanga, that unless the late Lloyd Quinn, a director in the 1st defendant, resurrected from the death, he could not have signed the defence documents three years after he died.

He said that Quinn, who died in 2014, could not have signed the documents in 2017.

Justice Egwuatu stated that Nolan was prosecuted in absentia in line with Section 352(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

In the EFCC’s final written address filed by Sanga, the commission said in the course of the investigation of the claim of 9.6 billion dollars against the Federal Government by a British Virgin Island registered company, P&ID Ltd, the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, acting upon presidential directives, requested the anti-graft agency to investigate the circumstances of the claim by P&ID against the Nigerian government.

NAN reports that Micad Project City Services Ltd is owned by Lloyd Quinn and Adam Quinn.

The company is an associate of P&ID Ltd, owned by Michael Quinn.

Lloyd was said to have died in 2014 and in order to access the company’s funds, Nolan forged the signatures of Lloyd and Adam.

Adam, who was mentioned in the charge as being at large, was ordered to be arrested by the court anywhere he is found.

Nolan, the British national, in the trial linked to the $9.6 billion P&ID scandal, had, on Jan. 16, 2025, though his lawyer, Ajara, told the court that he would not be calling any witness(es) in the ongoing trial.

Nolan jumped bail around September 2022 and fled Nigeria.

The defendants were arraigned in May 2022 but pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Nolan, was remanded at Kuje Correctional Centre pending the determination of his bail plea.

Upon meeting his bail conditions of N100 million and a surety in like sum, Nolan was granted bail.

He, however, stopped attending court proceedings and fled the country.

After his escape, he was declared wanted by the court, and an order was issued for his arrest wherever he was found.

The EFCC’s lawyer, Sanga, proceeded to apply for the trial of the defendant in absentia in line with ACJA, 2015, which was accordingly granted by the court.

Nolan was said to have been re-arrested by the INTERPOL in Italy on January 27, 2024, when he visited his wife.

He Is yet to be extradited to Nigeria to face trial.

A sister court presided over by Justice Donatus Okorowo, who had been elevated to the Court of Appeal, on July 3, 2024, ordered the closure of two other companies linked to Nolan, over involvement in the P&ID Ltd fraud.

Justice Okorowo, in two separate judgments, held that the two companies were found guilty of money laundering offences and ordered that the companies be wound up and their assets forfeited to the Federal Government.

The companies are Trinity Biotech Nigeria Limited and Resorts Express Concept Nigeria Ltd. (NAN)

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