A senior manager with First Bank Limited, Nnedimma Arah, was arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos, on a one-count charge of forgery linked to an alleged foreign exchange dispute.
Arah, an Associate Chartered Accountant and branch manager of First Bank’s Dosumu branch on Lagos Island, is accused of forging a letter of undertaking allegedly issued by Freshborn Industries Limited to cover foreign exchange differentials, dated August 12, 2022.
The alleged offence occurred between January 2023 and January 2024.
Prosecutors from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti-Yaba, allege the document was forged with intent to present it as genuine, to the prejudice of Freshborn Industries Nigeria Limited and its representatives, Anene Ikenna and Anene Chinyere Angela.
The offence is punishable under Section 1(2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
The charge was amended on March 30, 2026, following a legal review by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
A second defendant, Temitope Ogheneteme, was struck out of the case by presiding judge Justice Daniel Osiagor at the prosecution’s request, leaving Arah as the sole defendant in Charge No. FHC/L/582C/2025.
Arah pleaded not guilty.
Justice Osiagor granted her bail in the sum of N5 million with one surety in like sum, noting she had previously been on administrative bail and had attended proceedings diligently.
First Bank, in a petition to the Attorney-General of the Federation, argued the case stems from a commercial dispute over a $400,000 credit facility granted to Freshborn Industries and is already the subject of a civil suit before the Lagos State High Court.
The bank maintained that the criminal prosecution amounts to an abuse of the criminal justice process.
The trial is adjourned to July 14 and 15, 2026.
