N850m fraud: Court fixes Nov 27 for trial of Keystone Bank, officials, Indian

Justice Habeeb Abiru of a Lagos High court sitting in Ikeja, on Monday, fixed November 27 for the N850 million fraud trial of Keystone Bank (formerly Bank PHB), three officials of the bank, an Indian and his company, Nulec Industries Limited, who were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The defendants are Anayo Nwosu; Ashok Isran, an Indian who also has a Swiss citizenship and is the chairman of Nulec Industries, which was also arraigned; Olajide Oshodi; Sunny Obazee and Bank PHB itself.
The six defendants, three of who work for Bank PHB, allegedly defrauded a Nigerian identified as Sir Daniel Chukwudozie, of Dozzy Oil, of N850,000,000. The three Bank PHB staff members are Nwosu, Oshodi and Obazee.
Sir Daniel, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dozzy Oil and Gas Limited, alleged that he was defrauded of a total of N1.075,000.000.
In his petition to the EFCC dated March 1, 2012 and signed on his behalf by P.I.N. Ikwueto, he stated that he was  hoodwinked into parting with the money, adding that he took the decision to invest the money in Nulec Industries Limited following assurances by officials of the bank that the shares of the company would be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange one month after private placement at a price not below N5 as against the private placement offer price of N2.85k.
Sir Daniel further alleged that when he was allegedly hoodwinked into investing in Nulec, no Memorandum of Investment or any other information about the company was given to him.
“On the strength of the assurances by the bank, our client invited and persuaded his associates and close family members to also invest in the private placement aforesaid,” the petition said.