The Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) has resumed payments of protected deposits in Imperial Bank Limited (in Liquidation) after the High Court struck out an application blocking the payments.
Last week, the High Court dismissed an application by Mombasa tycoon Ashok Doshi saying it was an abuse of the court process.
Mr Doshi had earned an injunction in July 2023, which halted payments to protected depositors in the bank by nullifying notices on the lodging of claims and payments issued by KDIC in April and June 2023.
KDIC had protested the freeze, informing the High Court that Mr Doshi had been using the judicial process to frustrate the liquidation process for the last seven years.
The tycoon is seeking over Sh1 billion from the collapsed lender. Yesterday, KDIC invited depositors at the bank to continue lodging their claims for payments. The payment of Imperial Bank’s protected deposits is valid until April 2025 with the payment process having kicked off on April 3, 2023.
“Further to our notices dated April 3, 2023 and June 7 2023, we advise depositors of Imperial Bank Limited, to continue lodging their claims for payment of protected deposits,” KDIC said in a notice yesterday.
The process to pay the bank’s protected deposits was set in motion in December 2021 when the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) directed its liquidation following KDIC advisory. The advisory followed an audit which revealed the bank’s financial status as weak.
Imperial Bank had been placed under the management of KDIC/ receivership on October 13, 2015 after the CBK closed the bank over alleged malpractices.
In June 2020, KCB carved out Sh3.2 billion in assets from the bank and assumed liabilities of a similar value allowing for the payment of Sh3.2 billion to depositors over a four-year period.
