EFCC witness tells court forensic audit was not conducted on Arik's debt

The fourth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial over the alleged N76 billion and $31.5 million fraud linked to Arik Air has told a Lagos court that no forensic audit was carried out to determine the airline’s indebtedness, during the ongoing fraud trial of Ahmed Kuru, the former managing director of AMCON.

He also noted that Arik Air had settled 38 percent of its foreign loan obligations before the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) seized control of the airline in 2017, and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc allegedly retained about N51 billion realised from the disputed Arik Air loan transaction instead of applying the funds to offset outstanding obligations.

Bawa Kaltungo, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), gave this testimony at the special offences court sitting before Justice Mojisola Dada in Ikeja.

Under cross-examination by Taiwo Osipitan, counsel to the first and third defendants, Kaltungo admitted that the commission did not engage a forensic accountant to determine the status of Arik’s indebtedness.

He also disclosed that he does not have an accounting background, but maintained that there was no need for a forensic audit or specialised expertise, insisting that his role as lead investigator was sufficient.

The witness further acknowledged that he did not find any document linking the first and third defendants to the sale of Arik Air’s loan from Union Bank to AMCON.

He also confirmed that there was no evidence connecting the defendants to the sale of Arik’s shares in Zenith Bank for the purpose of liquidating the airline’s debt.

During the proceedings, Kaltungo questioned the role of Oluseye Opasanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who was appointed receiver-manager of Arik Air, suggesting that he may have acted outside his mandate.

However, under further questioning, the witness admitted that he did not verify whether the appointment was supported by a valid court order, stating that he was “just an investigator”.

Ngozi Ekugo

Ngozi Ekugo is a Senior Correspondent at BusinessDay. She holds a Masters in management from the University of Lagos, an undergraduate from University of Lagos, and is in an alumni of Queen's College. Shes currently an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM). She has a brief experience at Goldman sachs, London in its Human Capital Management division. She is interested in human capital development and is leveraging her varied experience across sectors to report labour and global mobility trends for stakeholders to make informed decisions.