The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on December 16, 2024, re-arraigned Francis Atuche, the former Managing Director of the defunct Bank PHB Plc, before Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos....TAP TO READ THE FULL CONTENT | TAP TO READ THE FULL CONTENT
Atuche faces a nine-count charge related to conspiracy and forgery, alongside co-defendants Nnosiri Joachim (a.k.a. Ifeanyi) and Uguru Onyike.
The charges include the forgery of key documents, such as the “Board Resolution” of Future View Securities Limited and other corporate entities.
Atuche, along with his co-defendants, pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, and the case was reinitiated due to the previous judges’ transfers.
The defendants were allowed to continue on the bail granted to them by a previous judge, Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo. The trial is scheduled to begin on May 6, 2025, with additional hearings set for May.
The case is a continuation of Atuche’s legal battles with the EFCC over fraudulent activities involving forged corporate documents.
Recall that the Supreme Court of Nigeria, on Friday, June 28, 2024, upheld the conviction and six-year sentence of Atuche by the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division over N25.7 billion fraud.
In a unanimous judgment by a five-member panel which was prepared by Justice Habeeb Abiru and delivered by Justice Moore Adumein, the apex court held that Atuche has repeatedly failed to prove beyond reasonable doubts why the concurrent judgments of the two lower courts should be tampered with and upturned.
