{"id":412,"date":"2024-06-28T16:19:19","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T16:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/?p=412"},"modified":"2024-06-28T16:19:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T16:19:19","slug":"supreme-court-affirms-bank-chiefs-conviction-over-n25-7b-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2024\/06\/28\/supreme-court-affirms-bank-chiefs-conviction-over-n25-7b-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court affirms bank chief’s conviction over N25.7b fraud\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

After 13 years of back and forth, the Supreme Court, this Friday morning, confirmed the former Managing Director of the now-defunct Bank PHB Plc, Francis Atuche\u2019s conviction.<\/p>\n

\nJustice Moore Adumein, in a unanimous judgment, stated that Atuche did not challenge the trial court and the Court of Appeal\u2019s assessment of his credibility.<\/p>\n

The court, based on its past rulings, emphasized that if a trial court\u2019s assessment of a party or witness aligns with the presented documentary evidence, an appellate court should not interfere with that decision.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the court found no grounds to overturn the lower courts\u2019 decisions.<\/p>\n

DAILY POST recalls that in 2011, Atuche, along with his wife Elizabeth and Ugo Anyanwu, faced charges from the EFCC before Justice Lateefat Okunnu of the Lagos High Court, with representation from Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Kemi Pinheiro on behalf of the EFCC.<\/p>\n

The trio faced charges related to a N25.7 billion fraud, with Justice Okunnu delivering a lengthy 12-hour judgment on June 16, 2021.<\/p>\n

Atuche and former Chief Financial Officer Ugo Anyanwu were found guilty on 21 of the 27 counts of conspiracy to commit a felony and stealing by the EFCC.<\/p>\n

Justice Okunnu ruled that the EFCC had convincingly proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

Atuche received a 12-year sentence, and Anyanwu 10 years initially, which was later reduced by the Court of Appeal to six years for Atuche and eight years for Anyanwu.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Atuche was acquitted as the EFCC couldn\u2019t establish her involvement in the crime.<\/p>\n

The court stressed that suspicion alone cannot substitute for concrete evidence.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t demonstrated that she knew the source of the funds in her account from her husband or had authority over the transactions.<\/p>\n

The convicts were set to serve their prison terms at the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Facility in Lagos.<\/p>\n

After appealing the judgment, the Court of Appeal confirmed the convictions on June 23, 2022.<\/p>\n

The appellate court clarified that Atuche\u2019s sentence was reduced to six years concurrently, not 12 years, while Anyanwu\u2019s term was decreased from 10 to eight years.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court, earlier this year, heard arguments from Senior Advocates of Nigeria in Mr Atuche\u2019s appeal against his conviction.<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s unanimous decision this morning marks the conclusion of this legal battle that spanned over thirteen years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 13 years of back and forth, the Supreme Court, this Friday morning, confirmed the former Managing Director of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,2],"tags":[147],"class_list":["post-412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-economy","category-crime","category-news","tag-francis-atuche"],"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court affirms bank chief's conviction over N25.7b fraud\u00a0 - Panorama News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/panoramanews.com.ng\/index.php\/2024\/06\/28\/supreme-court-affirms-bank-chiefs-conviction-over-n25-7b-fraud\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Court affirms bank chief's conviction over N25.7b fraud\u00a0 - 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