Three enterprising Indians, Sunis, Haresh and Mahesh, collectively known as the Vaswani brothers have been 'permanently' expelled from Nigeria. They were at the head of the Stallion Group, a multi-million, multi-faceted conglomerate whose business interests ranged from agriculture, chemicals, food, textiles, building materials to auto dealerships. Although the firm has been operating in Nigeria for 40 years, an odour of suspicion about tax evasion and other sharp practices was said to have always trailed its activities.

In 2003, the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo drove the Vaswani brothers out of the country for alleged criminal conspiracy and economic fraud. Then in 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua invited the brothers back. Yar'Adua must be biting his fingers in remorse as he has now been forced to expel the Vaswanis yet again for unethical business practices including tax evasion and money laundering. In addition to the three brothers, another 28 of their top Indian staff have been repatriated from Nigeria for a period of not less than five years.

What is known about the case that led to the deportation of the brothers out of Nigeria is fairly straightforward. Faced by rising food prices that provoked riots in several countries in 2008, the Federal Government in an attempt to alleviate hardship granted rice importers a period of grace from May 7 to October 31, 2008 during which they were not required to pay full duty for imported rice. The Vaswani brothers brought in rice in nine ships. It is alleged that in an attempt to benefit from this period of grace, the brothers later fraudulently manipulated shipping documents to create the impression that the consignments arrived Nigerian ports during the grace period even though at the material time some of the ships were still loading rice in Thailand and others were on the high seas.

The alleged false declaration was accepted, signed and stamped by Nigerian Customs officials as correct and dated September 26, 2008. In other instances, wrong and lower rice prices were quoted in order to evade the payment of correct duty. For these offences, the Nigerian Customs Service has determined that the Vaswanis owe N2.5 billion in unpaid duties on rice. Additionally, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting the Vaswanis for tax evasion to the tune of N4 billion.

The EFCC has frozen their bank accounts and closed their auto shops. All their companies are being investigated for tax evasion and other illegal financial deals. Mrs. Farida Waziri, the EFCC boss also said that directors of the company and some Customs and Immigration officials involved in the act would be prosecuted. A Federal High Court has now given an interim order restraining government from confiscating or sealing off the assets of the Vaswani brothers.

In another development, however, the Vaswanis are also accused of the abuse of expatriate quota whereby they brought in all manner of Indians, Filipinos and Koreans as engineers whilst relegating competent Nigerians to the background. For instance, more than 1000 Indians and Koreans are employed as expatriates in the Hyundai auto dealership that does no manufacturing.

The Nigerian staff of the Indian business group, Vaswani brothers, recently sent a save-our-soul letter to President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua urging him to prevail on the EFCC to follow due process in sealing offices of the group or deporting the Indian brothers as such action would lead to the loss of 10,000 jobs. In their letter, they claimed that there is a subsisting ex parte court order which the EFCC under the rule of law is bound to respect. They claimed that the signing of a N162 billion agreement with the Nigerian government to produce rice locally is at the heart of their travails. The new project is billed to start with farm acreages in 10 states of the federation and is expected to provide 3,000,000 job openings.

It is sad that many foreign companies in Nigeria are accustomed to flouting Nigerian laws and abusing our patronage. Somehow the impression is being created that in this country anything goes and that anyone with the means can subvert the system and position himself above our laws. Whilst commending the Federal Government for belatedly recognising the harm posed by some foreign entities, we hope that it will follow through with all envisaged prosecutions and sanctions.

This will serve as a deterrent to other criminally minded businessmen in Nigeria. It is regrettable that Nigeria has to rely on the foreigners to do its buying and selling. What Nigeria needs is direct foreign investment with transfer of technology not parasitic groups that add little value to the economy whilst scooping up every available naira for the benefit of their home countries. If found guilty, the Vaswanis must be made to pay for all illegal monies acquired through tax manipulation and evasion of duty once this is properly established. Government must be wary however of being seen to be engaged in undue persecution and witch-hunt. Sharp practices within the economy are widespread involving both local and foreign investors, more audits need to be done on other firms.

Of course, all these illegal acts are not possible without the connivance of Nigerian officials. As in the Halliburton case, the EFCC must fulfill its promise to additionally prosecute those Nigerian officials who may have encouraged the abuse of the laws of Nigeria. The EFCC must be careful not to lose its case on the ground of technicalities.

Mrs Waziri has observed that ex parte orders are a hobbyhorse of the Vaswanis - 12 ex parte injunctions already granted in two years. We have complained before about the frivolous granting of ex parte orders by certain judges in criminal cases. The judiciary must review the circumstances under which ex parte orders are granted by judges.

In the meantime, the EFCC in dealing with the Vaswanis must ensure that it is on firm legal grounds and that the fundamental human rights of the accused are not violated in the pursuit of justice.