N76bn fraud: Court adjourns trial of ex-AMCON MD to June 4

The Lagos state special offences court in Ikeja has adjourned the trial of Ahmed Kuru, former managing director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), to June 4, 2025.

On January 20, Kuru (second defendant) was arraigned alongside Roy Ilegbodu, managing director of Arik Air, (third defendant); Kamilu Omokide, receiver manager of Arik Air, (first defendant); Union Bank Plc (fourth defendant) and Super Bravo Limited (fifth defendant), before the Lagos court.

The defendants were accused of defrauding Arik Air (currently in receivership) of N76 billion and $31.5 million.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Austine Obigwe, a former group executive director at Union Bank PLC, revealed how he wrote off a $2.3 million debt owed by Arik Air to his private firm, Staal.

Obigwe, a witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had initially told the court that Arik was financially healthy when he left Union Bank in 2009.

‘I WROTE OFF ARIK’S DEBT DUE TO OPERATIONAL DIFFICULTIES’

But under cross-examination, he admitted that the airline was “irresponsible, badly run, and immoral” and owed his company the sum of $2.3 million, which he claimed was never repaid.

According to the witness, the debt arose in 2011, two years after he left the bank.

He said he wrote it off due to the airline’s operational difficulties and his business ties with Arik’s promoter, Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, who he also described as a church member and acquaintance.

“I am not interested in collecting it. I wrote it off when I discovered that Arik Air started having challenges,” Obigwe told the court.

On the state of Arik’s fleet, the witness said he participated in an inspection of 26 aircraft in 2009, adding that Lufthansa had certified them airworthy and he had no reason to doubt the assessment.

Responding to the airline’s compliance with its loan obligations, he said there were no indications during his time at the bank that Arik was defaulting on loan obligations, either with Union Bank or other lenders.

When confronted with a letter dated April 23, 2009 — allegedly from AMCON regarding a N46.11 billion debt owed by Arik — Obigwe said he was unaware of such correspondence, despite being identified as the group executive director whose directorate supervised the Arik transaction.

He explained that lenders have options when a loan becomes non-performing, either by transferring the loan to another bank, reassigning it, or enforcing the security tied to the loan.

The witness also confirmed that a lender has the legal right to dispose of the security if a borrower defaults on a loan — a position that is said to support AMCON’s intervention in Arik Air.

The debt, originally held by Union Bank, was transferred to AMCON as part of the federal government’s mandate for the corporation to take over non-performing loans in the banking sector.

The matter was adjourned till June 4 for the continuation of the trial.