A London High Court has found Dr. Erastus Akingbola, the erstwhile Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc liable of unwholesome practices and misappropriation of the bank’s funds to the tune of N165 billion.
According to SaharaReporters, Erastus Akingbola, was found GUILTY of stealing and diverting billions of depositors’ funds to buy properties in the United Kingdom and for buying shares for himself in order to manipulate its share price in the stock market.
The court ruled that Akingbola was liable for directing the bank to buy its own shares at a loss of about $902 million, siphoning money to companies controlled by him or his family and using Intercontinental funds to buy real estate in the U.K., Judge Michael Burton said in a ruling in London today.
“Quite apart from being contrary to Nigerian law,” Akingbola’s strategy for the bank to buy its own shares “was simply wrong-headed, and was plainly a substantial contributing factor to the collapse of the bank,” Burton said.
Akingbola, who was fired by Intercontinental and then sued after he moved to London, has been back in Nigeria since 2010 defending a criminal fraud case stemming from the bank’s failure.
“I have no doubt that all the staff in the bank were in awe of him and of his authority,” Justice Burton of the High Court of Justice, Queens Bench Division in London said in the ruling. While Akingbola “wasn’t a ‘details’ man,” the judge said he didn’t “accept or believe that anything major in the bank could have occurred or did occur without his knowledge.”
The judgment “sends a strong message to international investors in Nigeria that it is no longer ’business as usual’ in its banking sector,” Access Bank’s lawyer, Segun Osuntokun of Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP in London, said in a statement.
When 83 million pounds of his assets were frozen in January 2010, Akingbola claimed he had trouble paying his legal bills. Burton gave him permission at the time to sell an $850,000 home in Ghana or two apartments in London worth a total of about 1 million pounds to begin paying the remaining costs of his legal fees.
Under the freeze order, Akingbola was supposed to be able to pay for his defense using an HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) trustee account on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. The bank declined to release the funds after it was approached by Nigeria, possibly triggering another legal dispute, Akingbola’s lawyer said in court at the time.
Akingbola was managing director of Intercontinental from 1989 to 2009. It was one of Nigeria’s four biggest banks, employing about 20,000 people and running about 350 branches.
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Wonders shall never end. Didnt Nigeria Court discharge and aquit thesame Akingbola of any corruption charges levelled against him? Its high time we disband courts in Nigeria for incompetence. On the other way round, I think its not the fault of the Court all alone but that of the prosecutors who lacks the moral and technical capability to investigate and prosecute case properly. However, the court usually take egunje to knock out cases on technical ground.Everyday for the thief,one day for the owner.
ReplyDeleteDr. Erastus Akingbola is indeed a modern day Judas . He should not be allowed to enjoy the Loot
ReplyDeleteThis guy is a fraud....He should be arrested before he runs away again!Intercontinental bank was doing very well that time,he just destroy the bank with his greediness in a pretense that he owns the bank.Yes...he was deceiving his staffers & people then that he founded ICB with his money.But what of other people's fund/wealth that has been added?He should be thrown inside hot engine oil so that he can die slowly before he finally go to hell fire where he belongs!THIEF!
ReplyDeleteFinding Eratos Akingbola liable is not enough, we need appropriate action to be instituted against him.kudos to U.K Court. Nigerian court wouldn't have seen anything wrong in his action.
ReplyDeleteNigeria court are all thief.he has used his wealth to cover the mouth of jugdes,so that they will not speak the truth.one day the truth will come out.
ReplyDeleteHe inherited the anointing...
ReplyDeleteA new colonial mentality and modern day slavery. If a judgement is delivered by judges and courts in foreign land against our people, we quickly jump and say eureka! These foreign judges are human and read media reports destroying us and indicating we are crooks! The british judicial system recognises appeal to supreme, because their people are not infalliable. Its all exaggerated. CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi instructed the interim appointed Management to persecute this man with the fund released to the bank (part of the N620b bail out), while Dr Akingbola could barely afford a quality legal team because of the freeze order. A very sad day for good conscience
ReplyDelete