By Kenny Folowosele, Abuja
Nigeria’s Special Offences Court has sentenced an American businessman, Marco Antonio Ramirez, to 74 years in prison.
Ramirez was sentenced by the court after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria found him guilty of the charges.
He was convicted of defrauding investors of $1.2m in a visa scam and $368,698.24 in a separate fraud case.
During the trial, the court found that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Ramirez was found guilty on multiple counts of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing about the visa scam.
In a separate amended charge, he was also found guilty of an alleged $368,698.24 fraud.
The court subsequently sentenced him to various terms of imprisonment on the different counts of the charges.
He was initially arraigned on a 12-count charge but was later re-arraigned on a 16-count charge on June 24, 2022.
In the allegations against him, the anti-graft Agency accused Ramirez, with his companies, USA Now LLC, Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, of an alleged $1,235,000 EB-5 visa scam.
The defendants were accused of obtaining money from investors as processing fees for their investments in USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, promising them eligibility for issuing a USA Green Card under the Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) United States of America Investor Programme.
However, Ramirez failed to fulfil this promise.
The prosecution presented documentary evidence and witnesses to prove the allegations at the trial, even when Ramirez pleaded not guilty.
This medium can report that the case faced several adjournments before the final addresses were adopted, and the judge delivered the verdict.
At the trial, parts of the charge read that “Marco Antonio Ramirez, USA NOW LLC, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, on or about the 26th day of July 2013 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of $250,000 from Gabriel Ogie Edeoghon under the false representation that the sum was his investment in your company- USA NOW Energy Capital Group LP in the Employment-Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) United States of America Investor Programme, which investment would qualify him to be eligible to a USA Green Card, and which representation you knew to be false.”
