Three former managers of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) have been acquitted by a Nairobi court of charges of fraudulently clearing six companies’ loan arrears totalling to Sh1.056 billion.
Milimani magistrate Gilbert Shikwe quashed the charges brought against George Weke Jaba (chief credit officer), Bonface Amunga Biko (executive director corporate banking), and Dennis Chumbe who was the head medium business.
The court questioned why the three were targeted yet the decision to restructure the loans was made by the board.
They were accused of intentionally planning to defraud the lender by making false entries in the loan book, to suggest that the loans had been cleared. It was alleged that they committed the offences between December 17 and 31, 2015.
The companies they allegedly cleared include Transafric Timber Ltd, Kaab Enterprises Ltd, Benvar Estates ltd, General Mills East Africa Ltd, Tahir Sheikh Said (TSS) Grain Millers Ltd, and Virgin Packaging Ltd. For TSS Grain Millers, it was said that they made it appear that a loan of Sh901 million had been cleared.
But the magistrate said an analysis of the evidence presented in court showed there was no criminal culpability that could be attributed to the actions of the three former managers regarding the accounts in question.
“There is no evidence that meets the legal threshold, that they were involved in any fraudulent false accounting as charged. They are hereby found not guilty of the eight counts of fraudulent false accounting under section 330 (b) of the Penal Code,” said the magistrate in a September 30, 2025 judgement.
Mr Shikwe added that it was clear from the decision to restructure the loans that they were made through board resolutions.
The magistrate pointed out two board resolutions dated October 22, 2015 and November 12, 2015 where the specific accounts were discussed at length and intervention measures recommended.
The court said Mr Weke and Amunga attended the said board meetings and the actions that flowed after the meetings led to the restructuring of the loans with each department executing its mandate as required by approving the restructuring.
The court said the restructuring and extension of the loan facilities was done by a host of individuals and it was not shown why the police singled out the three, even after emerging that the witnesses who testified admitted playing an active role in implementing the changes.
Evidence presented in court showed that the bank took a decision which was discussed in the board credit committee held on October 22, 2015. The meeting resolved that many loan facilities would need restructuring, like was done in 2011, to avoid triggering defaults after interest rates increases.
It was reported that management was reviewing full restructuring of several facilities that were to be impacted by the increased interest rates triggered by the upsurge in treasury bill rates, which had increased cost of liquidity and lending in the banking sector.
The restructuring, the court heard, would assist customers cope with the increased interest rates to avoid default.
Following the approval and directive by the board, the management proceeded to restructure customer loan accounts in liaison with the customers.
Mr Chumbe had confirmed that all the clients mentioned were in distress and had been engaging the bank throughout the year for various accommodations and extensions.
