Absence of witness stalls Atuche's trial

THE on-going trial of the former Managing Director of Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank), Mr. Francis Atuche and two others over alleged stealing of N27.5 billion was stalled due to the absence of the prosecution witness before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja.Atuche, his wife, Elizabeth and the former Chief Financial Officer in the bank, Ugo Anyanwu are standing trial over allegations of stealing N27.5 billion belonging to the bank by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).At the resumed hearing, the prosecution led by Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) said the witness, David Olom Nkpe, who is still being cross-examined by Atuche's counsel, Anthony Idigbe, believed that the court would not sit at the premises that the new Chief Judge would be sworn in on Monday.According to Pinheiro, the witness was mistaken to believe that the court may not sit due to the possible swearing in 'I agree the witness made a mistake and I tender our unreserved apology for this.'Responding to his submission, Idigbe said he has no objection as he would also be asking that Wednesday's date be vacated to enable him attend the collation of reports of the Presidential Task Force Committee on Fuel subsidy utilisation.However, Justice Okunnu subsequently adjourned the matter till June 25, 2012 for further hearing.Nkpe, a field detective in the Bank Fraud Investigative Department of the EFCC at the last hearing, stated that from their investigations, there was indeed no foreign investment in all the transactions.He added that from their investigations, there was also no record or application form for preferential allotment or disbursement of any, adding that it was only in the statement of the Managing Director of Futureview Financial Services Limited, Mrs Elizabeth Ebi, that such was mentioned.According to Nkpe, all the companies involved in the transactions investigated - Futureview, Extra oil and Trajec are affiliated to Ebi, though, they are headed by other individuals.
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