A Prosecution Witness, Mr. Austine Obegwe on Wednesday narrated before a Special Offences Court, Ikeja, Lagos, how Arik Air purchased some aircrafts with Union Bank guarantee, and with all facilities extended to the airline performing.

Obegwe is the second Prosecution Witness presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) in the trial of the former Managing Director of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria(AMCON), Mr Ahmed Kuru over N76 billion, and $31.5 million fraud committed against the airline.

Obegwe is a retired Group Executive Director in charge of Corporate and International Banking Division of Union Bank. He gave his account before Justice Mojisola Dada of Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

Other defendants are a former Receiver Manager of Arik Airline Ltd., Kamilu Omokide; Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Capt. Roy Ilegbodu; Super Bravo Ltd. and Union Bank Plc.

The defendants are being prosecuted on a six-count charge bordering on theft, abuse of office and stealing by dishonestly taking the property of another.

Count one reads: “That you, Union Bank Nigeria Plc, sometime in 2011 or thereabout, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with the intention of causing and/or inducing unwarranted sale of Arik Air loans and bank guarantees with Union Bank, made false statements to the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), regarding Arik Air Limited’s performing loans, following which you transferred a bogus figure of N71, 000,000,000.00 (Seventy-One Billion Naira) to AMCON.”

Count two reads: “That you, Ahmed Lawal Kuru, Kamilu Alaba Omokide as Receiver Manager of Arik Air Limited, and Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Chief Executive Officer of Arik Air Limited in Receivership, sometime in 2022 or thereabout, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, fraudulently converted to the use of NG Eagle Limited the total sum of N4,900,000,000.00 (Four Billion Nine Hundred Million Naira only), property of Arik Air Limited”.

The defendants, however, pleaded “not guilty” to all the six-count charges when they were read to them.

At the resumed trial on Wednesday, Obegwe told the court that he worked with the bank from 1980 to August 2009 when he retired.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Wahab Shittu SAN, the PW2 also told the court that he handled the transaction with Arik Air, and US EXIM to purchase three aircrafts for which Union Bank provided guarantee.

He said: “I was a board member, I handled the transaction with Arik Air for which Union Bank provided guarantee. We had a second transaction for two wide body Aircraft for body long hub A340500 and chemist OF HSBC Germany coface of UK, three of them are also shareholders”.

“The two Boeing were financed by the credit agreement and there was no payment by Union Bank. He did not pay any money for the guarantee for the 85%”.

“The two wide body aircraft, the hub was the major success that precedes the commendation from the President Yar’Adua, These aircraft, one was fly to London and the other was fly direct to New York;

“The major focus of the airline’s finance that Union Bank handled was able to provide guarantee pending a loan up to 85%. Until I left the bank in August 2009. All facilities extended to Arik were performing, meaning that there was no default because of the way Arik was structured.

“In return of providing guarantee for the aircraft, we made collection through credit card. Everything was cash. I am also aware that there was no default of money for the First Bank to apply to CBN and make the payment to HSBC in Dollars, the bank that is representing all the foreign lenders “.

The prosecution counsel, Shittu sought to tender some documents relating to the transaction and certified by EFCC but the defence counsels objected to it on the grounds that the witness was not author and there was no evidence of certification of the payment. They urged the court to refused this application.

In a short ruling, Justice Dada, rejected the documents, saying that “the witness in the box is not a member of the investigation team, he is not a member of AMCON, the documents cannot be tendered by him”.

The witness said further, that “any bank can sell facilities, if they want to sell or buy, and there was no request to sell any facilities when I was there”.

The witness, was cross-examination by the counsel to the first and third defendants, Prof Taiwo Osipitan SAN, and Olasupo Shasore SAN, counsel to second defendant, Kuru. They tendered several documents which court admitted as exhibits

Justice Dada adjourned the matter till May 19 and 28, 2025 for continuation of trial.

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