Alleged $213m fraud: Judge issues arrest warrant for ExxonMobil Nigeria MD

A Nigerian judge has issued an arrest warrant for the Managing Director of ExxonMobil Nigeria, Mr Richard Laing, for failing to appear before the nation’s anti-graft agency investigating what it says is a $213 million fraud.

Federal Court Judge Okon Abang approved a request by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to issue an arrest warrant for Laing, Bloomberg quoted an Abuja-based spokesman for the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, as saying by phone on Wednesday.

The warrant is in connection with an alleged pipeline contract procurement fraud. Laing rebuffed three invitations to appear before the agency to give testimony, Uwujaren said.

The EFCC is investigating a fraudulent creation of change orders on a pipeline project worth more than $213 million.