Following reports that oil trading giants, Glencore, Taleveras and Arcadia were implicated in a court case involving the a former minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke and her co-conspirators, Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore, fresh reports have indicated that the named oil giants have been cleared of participation in the scandal.
Recall that Sahara Reporters had earlier stated in a report that the oil trading giants were implicated in a $144 million asset forfeiture suit against Nigerian billionaire businessman, Kola Aluko.
The court documents filed by the U.S Justice department quoted by the earlier news source revealed that the Oil giants, Glencore, Taleveras and Arcadia paid millions of dollars to Aluko and companies which was used to fund the lavish lifestyle of the former petroleum minister.
However, the company, Taleveras through its Senior Legal Advisor, Alex School, has in a statement released stated that none of the implicated trading companies have been indicted for any wrongdoing.
The statement released stated: “It is very unfortunate how we have seen distortion of facts, mischievous and libelous headlines, content and defamation in some local Nigerian online and social media platforms that may have been used to cause mischief.
“We are presently investigating this and considering our legal options accordingly, we take reputation damage very seriously and will act, without no doubt.
“Further to this, it is worthy to note that neither Taleveras, Igho Sanomi, nor its associated companies benefited from the Atlantic strategic Alliance production in any shape or form, records are there to show this squarely.
“The reverse is actually the case, as there was a clear breach of contract and as such there is currently an ongoing commercial and contractual dispute. Firm actions commenced a while ago and still on going, hence I will not comment any further on this matter.”