Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja division of the Federal High on Thursday convicted and subsequently ordered the winding up of Process and Industrial Development Limited and its Nigerian affiliate, P&ID Nigeria Limited, for charges of fraud and tax evasion in respect of the contract leading to the recent judgment of a British court empowering the firm to seize about $9.6bn worth of Nigerian assets.

In his judgment, Justice Ekwo also ordered the forfeiture of “the assets and properties” of the two firms to the Nigerian government shortly after they, through their representatives, pleaded guilty to the 11 counts instituted against them by the EFCC.

They were accused of among others, fraudulently claiming to have acquired land from the Cross River State Government in 2010 for the gas supply project agreement which led to the $9.6bn judgment.

Documents relating to the controversial 2010 gas supply contract and EFCC’s investigation activities were tendered and admitted by the judge as exhibits without objection from the defence.