Property fraud: Court denies convicted fraudster, Emmanuel Nwude bail

Emmanuel Nwude,  a former Director of Union Bank of Nigeria who was convicted for defrauding a Brazilian bank of $242 million in 2005, was on Tuesday denied bail by an Ikeja Special Offences Court over a fresh case of alleged property fraud.
Nwude was  convicted  for impersonating Paul Ogwuma,  a governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who served from October 1, 1993 to May 29, 1999.
The bank,  Banco Noroeste, was defrauded  of $242 million between 1995 and 1998.
As at the time of the incident, it was the third largest bank fraud in  history, resulting in the  collapse of Banco Noroeste in 2001.
Nwude was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the fraud in 2005 by Justice Joseph Oyewole of an Ikeja High Court.
His conviction was the first major conviction for the then newly established Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Nwude after serving his jail term  is,  however,  back in court alongside two lawyers- Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Roland Kalu–over a  15-count charge of forging the documents of the  property Justice Oyewole had ordered Nwude to forfeit to his victims.
Ilechukwu and Kalu were   granted bail during their arraignment on March 2 while Nwude had remained in prison custody pending the hearing of his bail application.
During the scheduled hearing of Nwude’s bail application on Tuesday, Mr Stephen Amallagoge, Nwude’s defence counsel,  had applied for liberal bail conditions for Nwude.
“We pray that the first defendant is admitted into bail;  he is currently battling prostrate cancer and needs medical attention.
“The purpose of bail is to secure the attendance of the first defendant and not to punish him.
“The second and third defendant are currently on bail and I pray that the bail be on the most liberal terms,’’ he said.
Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the EFCC prosecutor, however, vehemently opposed the bail application of the convicted fraudster because of his  fraudulent antecedents.
Oyedepo said:  “We have a written address dated March 2;  it is revealed from paragraph nine that the first defendant is not a first time offender.
“This honourable court had convicted him on a matter that deeply affected the integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria before the international community and refusing this bail application will not amount to tarnishing the first defendant.
“We are ready for accelerated hearing of this matter and we urge Your Lordship to refuse this application.
“The alleged illness of the first defendant and his purported surgery is a mere submission which is not backed by expert opinion of a medical practitioner in that field of medicine in a report which should be presented in court.
“The fact, circumstances and relationships between him and the other defendants are not the same.
“We have no records of any previous convictions or charge filed against the second and third defendants. They are not in the same category.
“His previous fraud convictions have not been set aside and had even been upheld by the Court of Appeal.
“I urge My Lord to grant accelerated hearing in this case.’’
In a  ruling which rejected  Nwude’s  bail request,  Justice Mojisola Dada said that she was not convinced that Nwude would not constitute a flight risk because of his prior fraud convictions.
“As serious as the illness was alleged no single document was filed in support of the first defendant’s bail application.
“One  of the facts the court considers in granting bail is the criminal record of the applicant.
“I am not confident that the applicant will not constitute a flight risk. The application for bail is hereby dismissed.
“The second and third defendants should perfect their bail before the next adjourned date and the request for accelerated hearing by the prosecution is hereby granted.
“The case is adjourned till March 14 for trial,’’ the judge ruled.