Ex-Bank PHB MD Atuche jailed six years over N25.7bn fraud, wife acquitted

An Ikeja High Court has sentenced Francis Atuche, a former Managing Director of the defunct Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank) to six years’ imprisonment for defrauding the bank of N25.7 billion.

In a 10-hour judgment, Justice Latifat Okunnu also sentenced Ugo Anyanwu, a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank to four-year imprisonment.

The judge held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission proved beyond reasonable doubt that the convicts committed fraud.

Okunnu, however, discharged Atuche’s wife Elizabeth, who was facing trial alongside the duo.