Sandesara brothers, currently on the run from the Indian government on charges of multiple frauds are having a party in Nigeria. A recent report by Bloomberg highlights that the African nation has become a safe haven for the fugitives who have the full backing of newly-elected President Boa Tinubu.
Nitin and Chetan Sandesara left India in 2017 and deny allegations of cheating, saying they are the victims of political persecution. However, it matters little now as the brothers are flourishing in the country. Nigeria has refused India’s requests to extradite them saying the allegations “appeared to be political in nature”.
Having ventured into the oil industry almost 20 years ago, the brothers are currently the state’s partner in multi-billion dollar oil projects. Last year, the Nigerian government celebrated the discovery of as many as 1 billion barrels of oil in the country’s arid northeast, almost 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) away from the crude-rich Niger Delta. The Sandesara brothers and their companies will be pumping out this oil – giving further incentive to the Nigerian government to shield them from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
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According to the publication, the group’s subsidiaries — Sterling Oil Exploration & Production Co. and Sterling Global Oil Resources Ltd. at the moment, pump about 50,000 barrels of crude a day in the delta. The Sandesara family is also the top exporter of oil from Nigeria while contributing two per cent to the Nigerian government’s revenue.
With the likes of Shell and ExxonMobil Corp retreating from the West African country, the Sandesara brothers have only strengthened their hold over the bureaucracy.
$1.7 billion fraud by Sandesara brothers
India’s Enforcement Directorate, during the investigation found that several companies promoted by the Sandesara brothers, had fraudulently obtained credit facilities worth billions from various banks, which subsequently turned into Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). India’s premier investigation agency CBI told the Supreme Court last year that the group owed $1.71 billion to public lenders such as State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Union bank of India
The probe revealed that the brothers set up more than 300 shell and benami companies in India and abroad to divert and misuse loan funds, manipulate balance sheets and fudging other documents to inflate turnovers and insider shares trading. The Sandesaras reportedly controlled these shell and benami companies through dummy directors, who were shown as employees of various companies of the Sterling Group
(With inputs from agencies)
