Admin l Wednesday, June 16, 2021
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Former Managing Director of defunct Bank PHB, now Keystone Bank Mr. Francis Atuche was today convicted by a Lagos High Court, sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.
Justice Lateefah Okunnu convicted him along with the Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Mr. Ugo Anyanwu. They were convicted on count 21 out of the 27 count amended charge of conspiracy to commit felony and stealing brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Okunnu held that Atuche and Anyanwu abused their powers, ignored established rules and regulations thereby putting the bank and depositors’ funds in danger.
In her ruling, she held that the convicts corruptly took advantage of their positions to confer on themselves undue financial benefits without regard to the health of the bank.
She however, cleared Atuche’s wife on the charge of conspiracy and stealing. Okunnu averred that the EFCC failed to link her to the crime and insisted that suspicion no matter how strong cannot take the place of fact and that the commission failed to prove that she was aware of the source of the funds she received into her account from her husband and that she had no powers to take any decision to influence the transaction.
