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Former Chase Bank boss Zafrullah Khan charged with Sh1.7 billion fraud

Chase

Former Chase Bank chairman Zafrullah Khan. FILE PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NMG

Former Chase Bank chairman Mohammed Zafrullah Khan was on Wednesday charged with conspiring to defraud the bank of Sh1,683,000,000.

He was also charged with several counts of stealing from Chase Bank and one count of failing to comply with provisions of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The former Chase Bank boss also faced an alternative charge of failing to report suspicious transactions.

He denied all the charges.

He pleaded to the charges soon after Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku ruled that arguments presented in court did not indicate that the charge sheet had any defects and that the High Court did not issue orders stopping him from taking plea.

Police officers from the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit had on Tuesday night arrested and detained him after the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko ordered his prosecution in connection to the loss money at the financial institution.

Mr Tobiko had ordered that he and six other former Chase Bank officials be prosecuted over corruption claims that led to the bank being placed under receivership.

However, the co-accused were not present in court on Wednesday.

Police had not found the six co-accused by Wednesday morning when Mr Khan was presented in court. The head of Banking Fraud Investigations Unit, Mr Ngatia Ireri, asked them to present themselves to police.

Khan

Chase Bank accused former chairman Zafrullah Khan of living a flashy lifestyle off plum bank accounts from the collapsed lender. PHOTO | BD GRAPHIC

Mischief claim

Mr Khan had been arraigned before the Nairobi Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning, with the court due to rule later on whether he would take plea.

This is after his lawyer, Cecil Miller, told Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku that there was mischief in the manner in which he was arrested.

He told the court that Mr Khan had obtained orders from the High Court on Tuesday allowing his passport to be released to him so he could leave for the US to seek medical treatment for 30 days.

He accused the DPP of mischievously having him prosecuted after "losing" in the High Court case to have the passport released.

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