Judge Withdraws from $42.48m Ecobank Fraud Trial

Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has stepped down from a $42.48 million fraud trial involving British citizen Marcu Wade and Indian nationals Prem Garg and Devashish Garg, who are accused of defrauding Ecobank PLC in a failed rice import transaction. The decision to withdraw came after concerns were raised regarding a petition filed against the judge, alleging gross misconduct.

The case, which has faced repeated delays since being filed in court in 2022, saw the defendants fail to appear despite multiple notices. During the proceedings, Demola Seriki, representing the defendants, informed the court that the prosecuting counsel was unable to travel to Abuja for the hearing.

Justice Aluko noted the defendants' consistent failure to appear and emphasized the need for fair proceedings. He announced the withdrawal from the case, ordering the case file to be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment, which is expected to cause further delays in the prosecution.