A former Managing Director of Bank PHB, Francis Atuche, on Wednesday has asked a Lagos High Court in Ikeja to dismiss the N4.2 billion theft charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Atuche made the request in an application to reject charges filed before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo by his counsel, Mr Abubakar Shamsudeen.
Atuche was charged to court alongside a former director of Bank PHB, Funmi Ademosun, for allegedly stealing N4.2 billion belonging to Caverton Helicopters Ltd in September 2007 .
The application was premised on a judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, on November 21 which dismissed the theft charge preferred against a former Managing Director of Finbank Plc, Mr Okey Nwosu and some others.
The Court of Appeal held in Nwosu’s case that the Lagos High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the charge because it emanated from capital market transactions.
In the decision, the court held that a State High Court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the charges which are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.
Shamsudeen argued in the fresh application dated December .6 that Atuche’s case was similar to Nwosu’s.
He said the fulcrum of the charge was an alleged unauthorised sales of shares belonging to Caverton Helicopters by the accused persons.
However, the EFCC Counsel, Mr Kayode Otufale, in preliminary objection, argued that the application should be struck out for being an abuse of court processes.
Otufale said that the Court of Appeal’s decision in Nwosu’s case was inapplicable to Atuche’s case.
The court has adjourned the case till December 16 for further hearing.