In relation to a N1.3 billion fraud, the Federal Government has asked for the issuance of a bench warrant against Mr. Hathiramani Ranesh, Managing Director of Dana Air, for his failure to appear before an Abuja Federal High Court. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that the request, which was submitted on Thursday, aimed to force Mr. Ranesh to appear in court so that he could be charged with fraud.
Citing Ranesh’s frequent absences, Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) counsel Mojisola Okeya submitted the oral request for the warrant before Justice Obiora Egwuatu.
The charges, which involve the fraudulent conversion and diversion of cash originally meant to resuscitate operations at the Dana Steel Rolling Factory in Katsina, were made seriously, according to Okeya.
According to NAN’s report: “The Federal Government, on Thursday prayed a Federal High Court in Abuja to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the Managing Director (MD) of Dana Air, Mr Hathiramani Ranesh.
“The federal government alleged that Ranesh has refused to appear for his arraignment in the alleged N1.3 billion fraud,” the report added.
The AGF’s office on behalf of the Federal Government brought a six-count indictment against Ranesh, Dana Group PLC, and Dana Steel Ltd. Court documents titled FHC/ABJ/CR/101/2021 contain specifics of these charges, which include allegations of fraud, misappropriation, and fraudulent diversion of assets and cash.
The issue relates to alleged sales of industrial generators worth over N450 million made by Ranesh and associates between September and December of 2018. According to reports, these assets were a part of an asset debenture deed that was kept as security for an Ecobank bond.
Also read: https://brandspurng.com/2024/10/12/klarna-cashback-drives-100m-worth-of-sales-in-just-six-weeks/
The charges also focus on events from 2014, when the defendants are said to have planned to steal N864 million from bond proceeds intended to increase output at the Katsina plant. This money was purportedly moved to other accounts for unauthorised uses. The indictment also states that N60.3 million was transferred to an Access Bank account and used for reasons unrelated to the bond’s original intent. According to the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, all of the alleged acts are against its provisions and have serious legal ramifications.
Okeya asked the court to issue a bench warrant to compel Ranesh’s appearance because he had missed prior court dates, BrandSpur Nigeria news reports.
B. Ademola-Bello, Ranesh’s defence attorney, disagreed with the motion, claiming that a preliminary objection had been made and casting doubt on the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case. He stressed that before there can be an arraignment, this objection must be addressed.
Okeya retorted that jurisdictional objections and other arguments cannot be addressed until the defendants have been formally arraigned, per the law.
The matter’s judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, requested the defence to provide any particular portion of the 2015 Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) that bolstered their argument. The judge then postponed the hearing until November 4 so that both sides could continue their arguments on whether or not the objection should be settled before Ranesh is arraigned. The legal obligations of business executives and the necessity of transparency when managing major financial transactions—especially those involving government bonds and economic initiatives—are both heavily highlighted by this case.
