THE Supreme Court, on Friday, June 28, upheld the conviction of former managing director of Bank PHB Plc, Mr. Francis Atuche.
In the unanimous judgment read by Justice Moore Adumein, the apex court ruled that Atuche did not challenge the trial court and the Court of Appeal’s assessment of his credibility, and from its past rulings, stressed that if a trial court’s assessment of a party or witness aligns with the presented documentary evidence, an appellate court should not interfere with that decision.
As a result, the court held that it found no grounds to overturn the lower courts’ decisions.
Atuche was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), represented by Mr. Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), along with his wife, Elizabeth, and the bank’s former chief financial officer, Ugo Anyanwu, in 2011 on a 27-count charge related to a N25.7billion fraud.
He and Anyanwu were convicted by Justice Lateefat Okunnu of the Lagos High Court on June 16, 2021, having been found guilty on 21 of the 27 counts of conspiracy to commit felony and stealing.
Atuche was sentenced to 12 years, Anyanwu bagged 10 years imprisonment, while Elizabeth was acquitted, after the EFCC failed to establish her involvement in the crime, with the court ruling that suspicion alone cannot substitute for concrete evidence, as it was not demonstrated that she knew the source of the funds in her account from her husband or had authority over the transactions.
The convicts were to serve their terms at the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Facility in Lagos, but the former bank boss approached the Court of Appeal, which, on June 23, 2022, reduced his sentence to six years, concurrently, and Anyanwu’s to eight years, while upholding the acquittal of Elizabeth, due to insufficient evidence linking her to the crime.
Still dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal decision, Atuche and Anyanwu appealed to the Supreme Court, which earlier this year, heard arguments from Atuche’s lawyers, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN) and Prof. Fidelis Oditah (SAN), while Pinheiro and Sebastine Hon represented the state.
The ruling draws the curtain on the 13-year long case.
