Atuche’s trial: Court gives EFCC one week to produce documents

An Ikeja, Lagos State High Court on Friday gave the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission one week to produce some documents relating to the trial of a former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Francis Atuche.
Justice Lateefat Okunnu, who gave the order, directed the EFCC to produce the subpoenaed documents before the court on November 1.
Atuche and his wife, Elizabeth, are standing trial for allegedly stealing N25.7 billion belonging to Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank).
They were charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission alongside a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Ugo Anyanwu.
During Friday’s proceedings, Atuche’s counsel, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), urged the court to order the EFCC to produce the original documents for the use of the defence.
Idigbe said the documents were board resolutions of three companies – Futureview Financial Services Limited, Tradjeck Limited and Extra Oil Limited.
He said they were vital to the case of the defence as they relate to a N10.9 billion credit facility Atuche had allegedly granted to the companies, without their knowledge.
Idigbe claimed that the original copies of the said documents were in the custody of the EFCC.
Addressing the court, an EFCC official, Boniface Uzoechi, said the documents were at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Uzoechi said: “I got to know about today’s adjournment last night on my way from Osun State.
“I was unable to get through to the Abuja office to produce the documents.”
The court admitted as exhibits Bank PHB Annual Reports for 2006, 2007 and 2008.
It also admitted as exhibits minutes of Bank PHB Board of Directors meetings between May 2007 and September 2009.