A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday fixed Feb. 2 for
continuation of trial of a Nigeria-based Indian businessman, Patrick
Fernandez, charged with N32 billion fraud.
The case, which was
initially slated for trial, was stalled due to the absence of the Judge,
Justice John Tsoho, who was said to be on official assignment
elsewhere.
A new date, Feb. 2, 2016 was, therefore, fixed for the trial.
At the last adjourned date on Oct. 27, trial could not also go on due
to the absence of the counsel to the accused, Mr James Ocholi (SAN).
The court had granted an adjournment, but noted that as a criminal trial, it ought to be dealt with expeditiously.
Fernandez was charged alongside his companies on 56 counts– bordering on fraud.
He was alleged to have committed fraud against various commercial banks in Nigeria to the tune of about N32 billion.
A prosecution witness, Mr Adeniyi Adebayo, during examination, had
narrated how huge sums of money were discovered in the accused of the
accused in various banks.
Adebayo told the court that when the
banks were interviewed, they informed the EFCC that the accused had
applied for a cheque discounting facility.
“During interviews with
the banks, we were informed by officials that the huge amount was
related to loans granted to the accused”.
When asked whether the
EFCC had authority to question bank loans, Adebayo had said that the
commission could demand for documents in relation to any account, where
reasonable suspicion of fraud exists.
The offence is said to have contravened the provisions of sections 314 of the Criminal Code Laws of the Federation 2004. (NAN)
No comments:
Post a Comment