A Lagos State Special Offences Court, in Ikeja, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced an American businessman, Marco Antonio Ramirez, to 74 years imprisonment, for defrauding victims of $1.2m, through an EB-5 visa scam and an additional $368,698.24, in fraud.
Justice Mojisola Dada, who
handed down the sentence, found Ramirez guilty on two separate consolidated
charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The court ruled that the
prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
On the first charge, Ramirez
was sentenced to eight years each on counts one to six, and 10 years each on
counts seven and eight.
On the second charge, he
received 10 years each on counts one to 12 for obtaining money by false
pretence, and 10 years each on counts 13 to 16 for stealing.
The EFCC said Ramirez and his
companies, USA Now LLC, Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP, and USA Now Energy
Capital Group LP, obtained the said money from their victims by promising them
access to the Employment-Based Fifth Preference United States of America
Investor Programme, which would qualify them to be eligible for the issuance of
USA Green Card and permanent residency, but that the convict reneged on his promise.
Instead of fulfilling these
promises, Ramirez converted the funds for his personal use.
Dada, in her judgment, held
that “The convict dishonestly converted the money meant for investments to his
personal use.
“The prosecution has
successfully proved that the promises made to the victims were false, and the
funds obtained were under fraudulent pretences,” she said.
The EFCC said Ramirez’s
fraudulent activities took place in 2013, noting that one of the victims,
Godson Echegile, lost $545,000 to Ramirez under the false pretext that it was a
processing fee for his investment, which would qualify him for a U.S. Green Card
through the EB-5 programme.
He was initially arraigned on
12 counts bordering on fraud and he pleaded not guilty. Later, the EFCC amended
the charge and Ramirez was re-arraigned on 16 counts on June 24, 2022.
The American was said to have
committed the offences on February 5 2013 and April 18, 2013, in Lagos.
When the trial commenced, the
prosecution counsel, M.S. Owede, who led Samuel Daji, tendered several
documentary evidence and called witnesses to prove the allegations against him
and he was cross-examined by the defence counsel, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN).
The case suffered several
adjournments at the stage of adoption of final written addresses before counsel
in the suit eventually adopted their final addresses on May 8, 2024, and the
judge adjourned for judgment.
However, while delivering
judgment on Tuesday, Dada found Ramirez guilty as charged and sentenced him to
10 years each on counts one to 12 bordering on obtaining by false pretence, and
10 years each on counts 13 to 16 bordering on stealing.
The judge also found him guilty
on another separate amended nine-count charge bordering on $368,698.24 fraud.
In a separate case, Ramirez was
found guilty of defrauding another victim, Gabriel Ogie Edeoghon, for $250,000
on July 26, 2013.
He falsely claimed that the
money was for an investment in the USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, which would
make Edeoghon eligible for a U.S. Green Card through the EB-5 visa programme.
Ramirez received additional
sentences of eight years each on counts one to six and 10 years each on counts
seven and eight for this particular fraud.
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