The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has re-arraigned Francis Atuche, a former managing director of the defunct Bank PHB Plc (now Keystone Bank Limited), alongside two others, before the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos. The trio faces a nine-count charge of conspiracy to commit a felony and forgery.
Atuche, along with Nnosiri Joachim (also known as Ifeanyi) and Uguru Onyike, appeared before Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe. Upon hearing the charges, all three defendants pleaded not guilty.
Prosecution counsel Fanen Anum informed the court that the matter was beginning de novo and requested a trial date.
Counsel for the first defendant, Anthony Ejere, appealed to the court to allow his client to continue enjoying the bail earlier granted, despite Atuche’s conviction in another case. Similarly, Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN), representing the second and third defendants, sought continuation of the bail previously granted by the court.
Justice Abike-Fadipe upheld the requests and allowed all defendants to remain on the bail terms granted by the now-retired Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo. The case was adjourned to May 6, 2025 for trial.
Background of the Case
Atuche and his co-defendants were initially arraigned before Justice Habeeb Abiru, who was later elevated to the Court of Appeal and subsequently the Supreme Court. The case then restarted before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo before his retirement, leading to its reassignment to Justice Abike-Fadipe.
The charges stem from allegations that Atuche directed Nnosiri Joachim, an office assistant at Keystone Bank’s Central Sharing Services Centre in Lagos, to deliver forged documents to the bank’s corporate headquarters. These documents were allegedly intended as exhibits in an ongoing legal battle between Atuche and the EFCC.
The purportedly forged documents include board resolutions from Future View Securities Limited, Extra Oil Limited, and Trajek Nigeria Limited, which had been missing from the bank since October 2009.
One of the counts against the defendants states:
“Francis Atuche, Nnosiri Joachim (a.k.a Ifeanyi), and Uguru Onyike, on or about March 4, 2013, in Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, conspired with intent to defraud to forge a document titled ‘BOARD RESOLUTION’ of Future View Securities Limited, dated December 17, 2007.”
Another count reads:
“Nnosiri Joachim (a.k.a Ifeanyi), on or about March 4, 2013, in Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, knowingly and fraudulently used a false document titled ‘BOARD RESOLUTION’ of Trajek Nigeria Limited, dated December 15, 2007, purportedly signed by Elizabeth Ebi (a Director of Trajek Nigeria Limited), as genuine in dealings with Keystone Bank Limited.”
The EFCC continues its investigation as the trial is set to proceed in May 2025.
