Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has ordered the arrest of two businessmen, Nabil Edmond Maukarzel and Halawi Fidaa, for allegedly refusing to appear before him to take their pleas in an alleged N9.4 billion fraud case.
Maukarzel, a Lebanese, and Fidaa, a French national, were accused by prosecutors from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of obtaining N9,442,788,578.93 from ECO Bank of Nigeria Limited, under false pretense.
The police had filed a three-count charge of conspiracy, fraud and stealing against the foreigners after concluding its investigation. The Trumpet gathered
The charge, FHC/L/260C/2021, was signed by two police prosecutors, Williams Tijani and S. O. Ayodele.
However, the suspects have declined to show up in court, since the charge was filed in 2021.
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Consequently, the Police filed an ex parte motion, urging the court to order the arrest of the suspects.
After listening to the motion, Justice Osiagor issued a warrant of arrest for the arrest of Maukarzel and Fidaa, for the offence of conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretense, fraudulent diversion of funds, and stealing to the tune of 9,442,788,578.93.
The court ordered that the suspects should be apprehended and taken to the nearest police station.
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