By BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE
Justice Christopher Balogun of the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, has adjourned till May 31, to rule on an application by FinBank (successor of IMB International Bank Plc) to quashing the N670 million fraud charge against the bank.

FinBank counsel, Mr. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, had prayed the court to quash the charge of stealing, fraud and perjury brought against it, on the ground that the charge was incompetent, as it was based on the repealed Criminal Code Law Cap C17, Laws of Lagos State 2003.

He argued that the bank, as a corporate entity, cannot be convicted for a crime, where the punishment is imprisonment; adding that the guilty act and requisite mental element constituting the offences cannot be attributed to any identified natural person in the bank.

Opposing the application, prosecuting counsel, Mr. Tani Bolajo, SAN, urged the court to disregard the issue raised by the defendant over trying and convicting FinBank (as a corporate body), contending that the defendant should have waited till the case was closed.

He argued that FinBank, through its officers, allegedly mounted sustained pressures on Zumax to concede to terms, accepting that it remained indebted to the bank, knowing that in reality that IMB owed Zumax large sums of money.