Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has adjourned further hearing in the criminal case against a Briton, two Indian nationals and their companies over an alleged $42.48 million fraud involving Ecobank Nigeria Limited.
The defendants — Marcus Wade, Chairman of Wilben Trade Limited, Prem Garg and Devashish Garg — are accused of defrauding the bank in 2015 under the pretext of using the funds to import rice.
They are being prosecuted alongside their companies, Wilben Trade Limited of Dubai and Agrico Agbe Limited of Nigeria, by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
The matter was adjourned on Thursday after both the prosecutor and the three defendants were absent from court.
At the resumed hearing, defence counsel A. A. Akinteye informed the court that the prosecutor had asked him to seek an adjournment as he was engaged in another matter at the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, two lawyers representing Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) and Citi Bank — Ademola Abayomi and Victor Adunwa — told the court that neither the defendants nor their companies maintained accounts with the said banks, despite earlier freezing orders placed on their accounts.
Following these submissions, the court adjourned the matter till 27 January 2026 for further hearing.
Part of the charge, marked FHC/L/562C/2022, alleges that the defendants conspired between May and September 2015 at Ecobank Plc, Lagos, to fraudulently obtain $42,485,900, purportedly for the importation of Indian parboiled rice, but failed to utilise the funds for that purpose.
The offences are said to contravene Sections 421 and 422 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Despite the pendency of the charges, the defendants have repeatedly failed to appear in court to take their pleas, while previous applications seeking to halt their arraignment, prosecution, and the bench warrant issued against them have been dismissed.
