A British oil company is in the eye of high profile fraud over alleged non-remittance of withholding taxes collected from Nigerian companies having business deals with it to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
For instance, the British-owned Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited (HEOSL) was said to have collected withholding taxes of US$706,600.00 and N169,986,341.55 (about N424.3 million) from Eraskorp Nigeria Limited in respect of Oil Mining Licence (OML) 30.
OML 30 contains nine flow stations: Eriemu, Evwreni, Oweh; Oroni; Osioka; Kokori, Afiesere, Uzere, and Olomoro-Oleh.
Straightnews had obtained a petition from Eraskorp Nigeria Limited more than two weeks ago and on Friday, December 6 called Richard Cutts, General Manager, Corporate Services of HEOSL.
In the spirit of a balanced reporting, Straightnews sent a text message to Mr Cutts who forwarded the message to two other persons who claimed to be working for the company.
One of the persons who spoke with the publisher of the online newspaper later forwarded the telephone number to another. On Saturday, December 7, the person one Tony called and sent an email to the publisher for further communication. The same day, the newspaper dispatched seven questions to him for a reply which up to the time of filing this report has not responded.
However, a report obtained from The Nation of December 4 said the Federal Government has recovered unpaid taxes to the tune of N228.6 million from Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited (HEOSL).
Already, Richard Cotts, a British and the Managing Director of the firm, was said to have been summoned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday for interrogation.
On 20th November 2019, Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited (HEOSL), represented by its Director, Joint Venture and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Mr. Chidi Chukwueke and other senior officers of the company namely, Babafemi Odumuyiwa and Olusegun Shonubi honoured the commission’s invitation and were interrogated by Tax Fraud Investigators of the EFCC in collaboration with a team of Special Purpose Tax Auditors from the FIRS.
“Following this, on Friday 22nd November 2019, the sum of $439,679.61 and N70, 377,778.18k was recovered into the FIRS Accounts through the direct payment as withholding taxes deducted but not remitted.
“Today has been slated for continuation of interrogation based on the need for the company to reconcile its accounts and present a holistic picture. The Managing Director, one Richard Cotts, British citizen has been invited for an interview.”
A document obtained by Straightnews followed a petition by Eraskorp Nigeria Limited alleging tax evasion and money laundering against the oil company in which EFCC stepped in to unravel the case.
The document reads in part: “On 16th October 201,9 one Richard Ogugu, the Chief Operating Officer of Eraskorp Nigeria Limited alleged tax evasion and money laundering against Heritage Energy Operational Services Limited
“The Complainant stated that the oil firm awarded their company multi-million dollar facilities protection contract covering OML 30 between 2017 and 2019 but failed to remit a total deducted of US$706,600.000 and N169, 986, 341.55
Ogugu, a director in Eraskorp, in a petition alleged that “ a total sum of N169,986,341.55 and USD $706,680.00 had been deducted by HEOSL between 20th Jan 2018 and 27th March 2019 but the oil company had since refused to make proof of payment to the FIRS available to it.
Eraskorp, according to the petition, did a facility protection contract for HEOSL between January 2018 and March 2019, on the OML 30 facilities in Delta state.
Earskorp said it complied with statutory demand to remit its withholding taxes, which it did by allowing the oil company to deduct the taxes at source, with the understanding that same would be remitted to the Federal Government’s coffers through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
It alleged that the failure of HEOSL to remit the taxes it had deducted from its payments at source, had impeded its chances of obtaining a tax clearance certificate, which is making it difficult for it to continue in business.
The petition said in part: “Eraskorp Nigeria Limited had a facilities protection contract with HEOSL covering OML 30 between 2017 and 2019. In line with the statutory requirement that withholding tax is deducted at source, HEOSL deducted same from all payments made to us under the contract but failed to remit same on our behalf to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
“It might interest you to note that the outstanding withholding taxes of N169, 986,341.55 (One Hundred and Sixty Nine Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty Six Thousand, Three Hundred and Forty One Naira, Fifty Five Kobo) and USD $706,680.00 (Seven Hundred and Six Thousand, Six Hundred and Eighty Dollars) deducted from our paid invoices between 20th Jan, 2018 and 27th Mar, 2019 are yet to be remitted on our behalf to FIRS by HEOSL.
“We have made several demands that they furnish us with the evidence of payments in our favour but all our efforts have been unfruitful. Please see attached the schedule of invoices upon which the deductions were made.
“Due to the failure of HEOSL to remit the said withholding taxes on our behalf, we have been unable to obtain our current tax clearance certificate which is a required document to conduct our business.
“In view of the foregoing, we urge you to most respectfully investigate our claims as contained in this petition as a matter of urgency, as the non-payment has caused us severe hardship, including our inability to participate on tenders. We thank you for your kind attention and do accept the assurance of our highest regards.”
