Court grants ex-Skye Bank chairman, Tunde Ayeni, N100m bail

Tunde Ayeni

The Federal High Court, Abuja, has granted a N100 million bail each for the former Chairman of the Defunct Skye Bank, (now Polaris Bank), Tunde Ayeni, and its former Managing Director, Timothy Oguntayo.

The trial judge, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, on Thursday ordered that the defendants must produce one surety each in like sum.

The duo are facing 10-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering instituted against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).

Messrs Ayeni and Oguntayo and the other defendants, Control Dredging and Royaltex Paramount Ventures Ltd, have all pleaded not guilty.

The EFCC says the defendants conspired to commit the said offences in 2014 by transferring N3 billion from Skye Bank’s suspense account to the account of Control Dredges domiciled with FCMB.

The commission says the offence contravened Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering Act as amended and punishable under Section 15(2)(b) of the same act.

The defendants were also alleged to have conspired to commit an offence to transfer N1.1 billion from the suspense account of the bank to the account of Royaltex Paramount Ventures domiciled with Skye Bank.

The judge adjourned the matter until May 27 and 28 for trial.

Ayeni and Oguntayo were arraigned in 2018 at the Federal High Court, Abuja on similar charges and got bail of N50 million each.

They were also arraigned at an FCT High Court sitting in Apo on Wednesday in another matter and were admitted to bail in the sum of N500 million each, and two sureties in like sum.