20091215

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's anti-corruption agency said late on Monday it had brought additional charges against the former head of Bank PHB in one of several money laundering cases following a $4 billion banking sector bailout.

Former Bank PHB managing director Francis Atuche had asked a federal court in Lagos to quash the 26-count charge against him but the court instead accepted an additional 19 counts, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said.

Atuche and one of the bank's executive directors, Charles Ojo, are being tried for their roles in granting a 450 billion naira credit facility without any collateral.

The two men are among several former bank executives to face criminal charges after a bank bailout in which the central bank injected around 600 billion naira to rescue nine weakly capitalised institutions, including Bank PHB.

Auditors found lax governance at the institutions had left them so weak that they posed a systemic risk.

Atuche resigned on October 2, shortly before the central bank announced the results of the audit of his bank.

Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi's bailout and the sacking of the top managers at the banks sent shockwaves through the country's corporate establishment.

Analysts are watching to see whether the country's judicial system, which has in the past been slow to prosecute graft cases against powerful politicians, will be any bolder in dealing with corporate leaders.