A Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja on Tuesday convicted and sentenced Marco Antonio Ramirez, an American businessman, to 74 years in prison for defrauding victims of $1.2 million through an EB-5 visa scheme and an additional $368,698.24 in fraud.
The sentence was handed down by Justice Mojisola Dada, who found Ramirez guilty of two different consolidated offences brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The court determined that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ramirez was sentenced to eight years on counts one through six and ten years on counts seven and eight on the first charge.
On the second charge, he was sentenced to ten years on charges one through twelve for acquiring money under false pretences and ten years on counts thirteen through sixteen for theft.
The EFCC stated that Ramirez and his companies, USA Now LLC, Eagle Ford Instalodge Group LP, and USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, obtained the money from their victims by promising them access to the Employment-Based Fifth Preference United States of America Investor Programme, which would qualify them for the issuance of a USA Green Card and permanent residency, but that the convict broke his promise.
Instead of delivering these commitments, Ramirez used the monies for his own benefit.
Dada, in her judgement, 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 stated that 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 program.
He was first charged with 12 counts bordering on fraud and pleaded not guilty. The EFCC then revised the accusation, and Ramirez was arraigned on 16 counts on June 24, 2022.
The American was accused of committing the crimes between February 5 and April 18, 2013, in Lagos.
When the trial began, the prosecution lawyer, M.S. Owede, who represented Samuel Daji, presented various documents and invited witnesses to establish the claims against him, and he was cross-examined by the defence counsel, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN).
The case was delayed numerous times before counsel in the suit adopted their final written addresses on May 8, 2024, and the court issued a judgement.
However, while giving judgement on Tuesday, Dada found Ramirez guilty as charged and sentenced him to ten years on counts one through twelve bordering on acquiring by false pretence, as well as ten years on counts thirteen through sixteen bordering on theft.
The judge also found him guilty of another amended nine-count allegation of fraud totalling $368,698.24.
In a second case, Ramirez was convicted guilty of scamming another victim, Gabriel Ogie Edeoghon, of $250,000 on July 26, 2013.
He falsely stated that the money was for an investment in USA Now Energy Capital Group LP, which would qualify Edeoghon for a US Green Card under the EB-5 visa program.
Ramirez received further penalties of eight years on offences one through six and ten years on counts seven and eight for this particular crime.
