Exactly two weeks after former Managing Director
and Chief Executive Officer of Bank PHB Plc, Mr. Francis Atuche, was
granted bail, a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, ordered his remand in
prison custody upon his re-arraignment by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission on Wedneday
The EFCC re-arraigned Atuche, his wife, Elizabeth, and former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Mr. Ugo Nwanyanwu, before Justice Lateefat Okunnu, on a 27-count charge bordering on felony and stealing of about N25.7bn belonging to the bank.
The 27-count charge is the amended version of the initial three-count charge before the same judge in which the EFCC alleged that Elizabeth stole N8.4bn belonging to Bank PHB Plc.
Justice Okunnu, however, ordered that Elizabeth should continue to enjoy the bail she had earlier granted the defendant on May 19.
The judge also admitted Nwanyanwu to bail, in the sum of N25m and two sureties in like sum among other conditions.
She said the EFCC failed in its opposition to Nwanyanwu’s bail application to prove that he absconded to the United States of America in 2009 to evade interrogation by the commission.
The trial judge refused to grant bail to Atuche.
Atuche’s counsel, Anthony Idigbe (SAN), at the Wednesday’s proceeding, appealed to the court to allow his client to continue to enjoy bail on the same conditions earlier given him by the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos and on which Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court had on May 24 predicated the bail granted the accused.
Justice Okunnu, in her ruling, insisted that the accused must be remanded in prison since he was newly re-arraigned in a “separate and independent suit.”
She adjourned the matter to June 14 for the prosecution to respond to the preliminary objection to the suit filed by Atuche and hearing of his bail application.
In the amended charge with which they arraigned the trio on Wednesday, the EFCC alleged that between November 2007 and April 2008, the accused persons stole about N25.7bn belonging to the bank.
Out of the total N25.7bn allegedly stolen by the accused persons, EFCC claimed that they stole about N14.7bn by fraudulently describing it as a loan to some companies and subsequently converted the said sum to personal use.
EFCC said the companies included Future View Securities, Extra Oil Limited, Resolution Trust and Investment Limited and Tradjek Nigeria Ltd.
The anti-graft agency also alleged that about N11bn was stolen by the defendants and the said sum was used to purchase about 984,375,000 units of Bank PHB shares for themselves.
The said sum used for purchasing the shares, EFCC alleged, was described as loan to some companies including, Guesstrade Services, Sentron Trading, Montrax Investico, Claremount Management Ltd., Trenton Trade and others.
By Ade Adesomoju Courtesy Of: Punch
The EFCC re-arraigned Atuche, his wife, Elizabeth, and former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Mr. Ugo Nwanyanwu, before Justice Lateefat Okunnu, on a 27-count charge bordering on felony and stealing of about N25.7bn belonging to the bank.
The 27-count charge is the amended version of the initial three-count charge before the same judge in which the EFCC alleged that Elizabeth stole N8.4bn belonging to Bank PHB Plc.
Justice Okunnu, however, ordered that Elizabeth should continue to enjoy the bail she had earlier granted the defendant on May 19.
The judge also admitted Nwanyanwu to bail, in the sum of N25m and two sureties in like sum among other conditions.
She said the EFCC failed in its opposition to Nwanyanwu’s bail application to prove that he absconded to the United States of America in 2009 to evade interrogation by the commission.
The trial judge refused to grant bail to Atuche.
Atuche’s counsel, Anthony Idigbe (SAN), at the Wednesday’s proceeding, appealed to the court to allow his client to continue to enjoy bail on the same conditions earlier given him by the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos and on which Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court had on May 24 predicated the bail granted the accused.
Justice Okunnu, in her ruling, insisted that the accused must be remanded in prison since he was newly re-arraigned in a “separate and independent suit.”
She adjourned the matter to June 14 for the prosecution to respond to the preliminary objection to the suit filed by Atuche and hearing of his bail application.
In the amended charge with which they arraigned the trio on Wednesday, the EFCC alleged that between November 2007 and April 2008, the accused persons stole about N25.7bn belonging to the bank.
Out of the total N25.7bn allegedly stolen by the accused persons, EFCC claimed that they stole about N14.7bn by fraudulently describing it as a loan to some companies and subsequently converted the said sum to personal use.
EFCC said the companies included Future View Securities, Extra Oil Limited, Resolution Trust and Investment Limited and Tradjek Nigeria Ltd.
The anti-graft agency also alleged that about N11bn was stolen by the defendants and the said sum was used to purchase about 984,375,000 units of Bank PHB shares for themselves.
The said sum used for purchasing the shares, EFCC alleged, was described as loan to some companies including, Guesstrade Services, Sentron Trading, Montrax Investico, Claremount Management Ltd., Trenton Trade and others.
By Ade Adesomoju Courtesy Of: Punch
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