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PA HAZARDOUS WASTE EXPORT CASE

Release Date: 07/19/96
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PA HAZARDOUS WASTE EXPORT CASE

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1996

ILLEGAL HAZARDOUS WASTE EXPORT SCHEME LEADS TO GUILTY PLEA FOR TWO NIGERIAN MEN

On July 11, in Atlanta, Ga., two Nigerian men holding U.S. passports, Michael Nweke and Stephen Nwosu, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiring to transport hazardous waste without a manifest and conspiring to export hazardous waste to a foreign country without permission of the receiving country. In addition, the defendants agreed to forfeit a Honda Passport automobile. A third defendant, Tony Obiora, who purports to be a Nigerian government official, remains at large and is believed to be in Nigeria. The defendants claimed to represent an Atlanta, Ga., company, Ossy and Associates, which they said could dispose of hazardous waste by exporting it to Nigeria without doing the paperwork which is normally required. They stated that this would be accomplished by disguising the hazardous waste and by bribing Nigerian officials. Nweke and Nwosu met with undercover agents of the EPA Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Customs Service and arranged for drums of hazardous waste (soil contaminated with mercury) to be shipped to Nigeria along with a legitimate load of industrial chemicals. The hazardous waste labels were to be removed from the drums, a false shipping manifest was to be prepared, and the waste was to be off-loaded at port in Nigeria which was controlled by the Nigerian military. After these and other details of the scheme were discussed, Nwosu accepted $200,000 from federal agents and he and Nweke were promptly arrested. Search warrants executed at Nwosu's hotel room, Nweke's apartment and on the forfeited vehicle all provided further incriminating evidence. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Customs Service.

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