The Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction of a former Managing Director of the defunct Bank PHB, Francis Atuche.
The affirmation of the former MD’s conviction in the early hours of Friday comes after 13 years of trial.
In the unanimous judgment read by Justice Moore Adumein, the Supreme Court held that Atuche, the appellant, did not attempt to dislodge the finding of the trial court and the Court of Appeal on his credibility.
The court in relying on its previous decisions to the effect that where the decision of a trial court on the demeanor of a party or witness is supported by the documentary evidence tendered, an appellate court has no business in tampering with the decision of the court.
The court held that the appellant had not given it any reason to tamper with the concurrent finding of the two lower courts.
Atuche; his wife, Elizabeth; and one Ugo Anyanwu had been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2011 before Justice Lateefat Okunnu of the Lagos High Court in a prosecution that was handled by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Kemi Pinheiro on behalf of the EFCC.
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The trio were arraigned on a 27 count amended information over a N25.7 billion fraud.
On June 16, 2021, Justice Okunnu in a judgment that lasted about 12 hours, convicted Atuche alongside a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Ugo Anyanwu.
The court convicted the duo on 21 of the 27-count amended charges of conspiracy to commit felony and stealing brought against them by the EFCC.
Justice Okunnu held that the EFCC successfully proved its case against the convicts beyond reasonable doubt.
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