Arik repaid 38% of foreign loans before takeover, EFCC witness tells court

A prosecution witness in the trial of former Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Ahmed Kuru, has told the Special Offences Court in Lagos that Arik Air had repaid 38 per cent of its foreign loan obligations before the airline was taken over by the agency.

The witness, Bawa Kaltungo, a zonal director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Lagos, gave testimony before a trial judge Mojisola Dada on Tuesday.

The director was led in evidence by prosecution lawyer Wahab Shittu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

Mr Kuru is standing trial alongside Kamilu Omokide, Roy Ilegbodu, Union Bank of Nigeria and Super Bravo Limited over an alleged fraud involving N76 billion and $31.5 million.

They are facing a six counts of conspiracy, stealing and abuse of office.

Giving evidence, Mr Kaltungo told the court that although Arik had substantially serviced the foreign facility, issues arose over a N51 billion guarantee allegedly converted by Union Bank.

According to him, the bank, acting as guarantor for the foreign credit facility, converted the guarantee but failed to remit the funds to the foreign lenders.

“Arik has paid 38 per cent of its loan to foreign creditors, but when Union Bank converted the Arik guarantee of N51 billion, they did not pay the foreign creditors from the funds,” he told the court.

He added that investigators found that Union Bank retained the N51 billion instead of applying it to settle the airline’s outstanding obligations to the foreign creditors.

Mr Kaltungo also maintained that Union Bank did not directly lend money to Arik, saying the facility was obtained from foreign institutions, including HSBC, and was being serviced by the airline until June 2010.

He further told the court that a letter recovered during investigations and addressed to former Arik chairman Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide suggested the loan remained performing at the time.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Taiwo Osipitan, also a SAN, the witness acknowledged that no funds were traced to the accounts of the first and second defendants during investigations.

He also confirmed that the anti-graft agency did not engage a forensic accountant to determine the full status of Arik Air’s indebtedness.

Mr Kaltungo, who identified himself as the lead investigator, said he did not have an accounting background but insisted a forensic audit was unnecessary.

“There was no need for a forensic audit or an accounting background, as my position as investigator was sufficient,” he emphasised.

According to the prosecution, Union Bank made false representations to AMCON in or around 2011 concerning Arik Air’s allegedly performing loans, leading to the transfer of a purported N71 billion to AMCON.

In another count, prosecutors allege that Messrs Kuru, Omokide and Ilegbodu fraudulently converted N4.9 billion belonging to Arik Air for the benefit of NG Eagle Limited.

Mrs Dada adjourned the matter until 18 May for continuation of cross-examination.

The latest testimony adds to a string of contentious claims emerging from the trial over AMCON’s 2017 takeover of Arik Air.

At an earlier sitting in February, Mr Kaltungo told the court that AMCON did not wait for the expiration of a 90-day repayment window granted to Arik before transferring some of the airline’s assets to Super Bravo Limited.

He said a deed conveying three aircraft to Super Bravo appeared to have been executed before the grace period expired, a move he suggested could have deprived Arik of rights to the assets if the debt had been settled within the stipulated period.

The witness also previously tendered minutes of a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) meeting relating to the controversial takeover, which the court admitted in evidence along with a petition containing 39 annexures.

In that testimony, he alleged that decisions surrounding the receivership of Arik departed from earlier advice and raised concerns over the management of the airline under AMCON.