The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja, on Monday, remanded a former Syke bank Chairman, Tunde Ayeni, in the Kuje Correctional facility in Abuja, pending the determination of his bail application.
Judge Jude Onwuegbuzie gave the order after Mr Ayeni’s arraignment on 17 fraud charges on Monday.
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Following Mr Ayeni’s not-guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), asked the court for a date for commencement of trial.
He also urged the court to remand the defendant in custody pending trial.
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But defence lawyer, Ahmed Raji, told the court that the defence filed a bail application on behalf of Mr Ayeni on Monday and served same on the prosecution.
According to him, the EFCC only served the indictment on the defendant last Friday, 1 May, which was a public holiday.
He requested a short date for the defence hearing of the defendant’s bail application.
He urged the court to grant a short adjournment for the hearing of the bail application.
Mr Raji informed the court that Mr Ayeni was a lawyer of over 35 years practice .
He appealed to the court to release the defendant to him and another SAN in his team, Olalekan Ojo, assuring that they would present the defendant in court at the next adjourned date.
The judge adjourned the case until 13 May for the hearing of the defendant’s bail application.
However, he declined the request to release the defendant to the defence lawyers on trust. Instead, the judge opted to remand him in the correctional facility in Kuje.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Mr Ayeni with 17 counts of criminal breach of trust involving about N8 billion.
Mr Ayeni pleaded not guilty to the charges.
EFCC arrested Mr Ayeni on 23 April ahead of his trial.
Mr Ayeni, 59, was arrested in Abuja, following an investigation into loans allegedly obtained from Polaris Bank through entities linked to him and later diverted from their stated purposes.
It alleged the facilities were sourced from depositors’ funds and diverted to unauthorised uses.
Charges
Sahara Reporters reported that the charges filed on 28 April include criminal breach of trust and unlawful withdrawals.
EFCC alleged in the charges that Mr Ayeni used his position as chairman to authorise transfers from the bank’s suspense account into accounts linked to multiple companies between 2014 and 2016.
The EFCC alleged in several counts that Mr Ayeni, “committed criminal breach of trust” by moving large sums in violation of prudential guidelines.
Some of such suspicious transactions alleged by the prosecution included N554 million transferred to Capital Assets Limited; N850 million to Capital Field Investment and Trust Limited, and N3.2 billion to Misa Limited in multiple tranches.
The rest are N600 million transferred to Harigold Ventures Limited and and N5.07 billion to Union Registrar Limited.
The EFCC also accused Mr Ayeni of authorising payments to several other firms, including: N1 billion to Beks Kimse Limited; N350 million to Suis Properties Limited; N10 million to Jodes Nigeria Limited; N400 million to Ridge Associate Limited; N50 million to Hades Meridian Limited; N200 million to Georgetown Capital Partners Limited and N300 million to Speedy Print Limited.
Previous prosecutions
Mr Ayeni’s latest arrest comes against the backdrop of longstanding corruption cases involving the former bank chairman.
In December 2018, the EFCC arraigned him and former Skye Bank Managing Director Timothy Oguntayo before the Federal High Court, Abuja, on charges related to the alleged diversion of depositors’ funds.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail.
Records tracked by TransparencIT show the matter comprisiong eight amended counts of money laundering, remains on trial before a judge I. L. Ojukwu.
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In a separate but related case, the EFCC in 2019 charged Mr Ayeni, Mr Oguntayo and two companies with alleged money laundering involving N25.4 billion.
But in July 2022, the commission withdrew charges against Mr Ayeni and Mr Oguntayo after what court proceedings described as a settlement that reportedly involved forfeitures linked to the case.
According to court records, prosecutors told the court that assets and additional payments had been offered as part of the settlement, though the final value of the recovery was not publicly disclosed.
Following the withdrawal, the two corporate co-defendants — Control Dredging Company Ltd and Royaltex Paramount Ventures Ltd — were re-arraigned separately.
The development drew criticism from some anti-corruption advocates.
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong had questioned the handling of the settlement, arguing that plea bargains should not undermine deterrence in corruption cases.
Similarly, the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Auwal Musa, who is also known as Rafsanjani criticised what he described as abuse of the plea bargain system.
(NAN)
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