Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, granted bail to the Chairman of Platform Capital Investment Partners Limited, Mr. Akindele Akintoye.
He was granted bail in the sum of N500 million and two sureties in like sum.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Akintoye for an alleged diversion of $16 million on December 24 last year.
He was arraigned alongside Platform Capital Investment Partners Limited and Duport Midstream Company Limited, where he is also the managing director, for the alleged diversion of $16 million which was part of the funds meant for the construction of a refinery in Brass, Bayelsa State.
The commission alleged that the defendants dishonestly converted the money the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) paid to Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited as an investment between December 2020 and February 2021.
Justice Nwite on December 31, 2024, fixed January 8 for ruling after Esedo and Martha Babatunde, who appeared for the EFCC, argued their case on the bail application.
In his ruling on Wednesday, the judge held that though he was not unmindful of the serious nature of the offence preferred against the defendant he granted him bail in the interest of justice.
Justice Nwite, who ordered the sureties to depose to an affidavit of means, said they must have landed property within the jurisdiction of the court and the documents deposited with the deputy registrar of the court.
He ordered the defendant to deposit his international passports with the registrar and must not travel without the permission of the court.
The judge also ordered that Akintoye and the sureties shall deposit two recent passport photographs each and the residence of the sureties verified by the court registrar.
