Court adjourns trial of Atuche, Ojo to October 28

A FEDERAL High Court, Lagos, yesterday adjourned trial of former Managing Director of Bank PHB now Keystone Bank Plc., Mr. Francis Atuche, and former Managing Director of the defunct Spring Bank Plc., Mr. Charles Ojo, to October 28 and 29, 2015.

Both are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on allegation of N125 billion fraud. Atuche and some of his aides were recently discharged on another alleged fraud levelled against them by the EFCC at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on jurisdictional grounds.

The two former bank chiefs are standing trial before Justice Saidu Saliu on an amended 45-count charge bordering on the alleged fraud, conspiracy, reckless granting and approval of loans and money laundering between September 1, 2006 and 2009. They pleaded not guilty to all the 45 counts and they are currently on bail.

The alleged offences, according to the anti-graft agency, contravene Section 14 (1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act Cap 38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 while the offence of reckless granting of loans contravenes Section 7 (1) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act and punishable under Section 7(2)(b).

At the resumed trial of the matter yesterday, counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), asked the court for a date for trial of the two accused persons. The two accused persons through their counsel, Mr. Osahon Idemudia, did not oppose the application for trial date.

As a result, the trial judge, Justice Saliu, adjourned the trial of the two accused persons till October 28 and 29. The anti-graft agency re-arraigned both Atuche and Ojo before the court on charges of acquiring Keystone Bank’s shares using depositors’ funds.

The EFCC also accused Atuche of applying N3.5 billion being proceeds of unlawful loans granted to Tradjek Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Futureview Financial Services Ltd, in payment for his acquisition of shares of Bank PHB using various companies as fronts with an intention to conceal the ownership of the loans. And that he collaborated with different companies to conceal the genuine origins of the N3.5 billion used to acquire the bank’s shares.