Imperial Bank managers, fish firm owners charged with Sh29bn theft

Two former managers of troubled Imperial Bank and three directors of a private company accused of receiving a large proportion of stolen funds from the lender were Wednesday charged with theft at a Nairobi court.

Imperial Bank’s head of credit, Naeem Shah, chief finance officer James Kaburu and the directors of W.E. Tilley Limited — the Nairobi-based fishmonger that confessed to receiving a third of the looted cash — denied the five counts of theft preferred against them and were released on police bonds.

The accused were charged with the theft of Sh29 billion from Imperial Bank or more than 80 per cent of the Sh34 billion that the bank’s former chief executive, Abdulmalek Janmohamed, is said to have stolen in 10 years.

Nashir Haiderali, the majority owner of W.E. Tilley (with 99 per cent stake), and fellow directors, Zulfikar Haiderali Jessa and Nargis Aziz Jessa were charged with conspiracy to defraud, engaging in an organised criminal activity, fraudulent accounting, theft and money laundering. They denied all the charges.

The accused were given police bonds that allowed them to remain free until this morning when the court will rule on their application to be released on bond.

Prosecutors have listed four witnesses, including two Imperial Bank managers Anil Shah (head of internal audit) and Ikua Gacheche (head of human resource), in support of their case.

Peter Gatere, who served as receiver manager of Imperial Bank, and Banking Fraud Investigations Unit deputy head Bruno Isohi Shioso are lined up as witnesses against the suspects.

Mr Shah took over as Imperial Bank’s acting managing director while Mr Kaburu was promoted to deputy managing director following Mr Janmohamed’s death last September.

Mr Janmohamed, the long-serving Imperial Bank’s managing director, is accused of fraudulently transferring Sh34 billion from the bank to his companies and bank accounts between 2002 to September 15, 2015 when he died.

W. E. Tilley has admitted to receiving Sh10 billion from the bank and has expressed readiness to return the loot, according to court documents.

READ: Firm that stopped Dubai Bank wind-up named in Imperial row

The firm has featured in a series of banking scandals, including the collapsed Charterhouse Bank in 2006, where it was a large depositor.

Victor Mule, a senior assistant director of public prosecution, had urged the court to issue a bond while taking into consideration the fact that the amount of money involved is colossal and left many depositors in pain.

It is claimed that the accused conspired to defraud the bank, now in receivership, and its depositors of Sh29 billion through an irregular and illegal overdraft disbursement scheme.

The prosecution said the offence took place between January 1, 2006 and September 15, 2015.

“In the period between August 30, 2010 and September 15, 2015, the accused acted in concert with others in the commission of a serious crime namely stealing, for the purposes of obtaining financial benefit,” Mr Mule said.

The Central Bank of Kenya on October 13, 2015 closed Imperial Bank citing “unsafe and unsound business conditions to transact business” at the mid-tier lender, which had Sh58 billion in customer deposits.

The prosecution reckons that Mr Shah and Mr Kaburu, who previously held the positions of head of credit and head of finance respectively, made false entries in the Bankers Books with the intention of defrauding the bank.

Separately, Imperial Bank’s receiver manager has sued Mr Shah, Mr Kaburu, the family of Mr Janmohammed and other firms seeking to recover the Sh34 billion it claims was lost in fraudulent schemes.

Mr Janmohammed’s co-accused are deemed to have aided or benefited from proceeds of his illicit schemes.

Mr Kaburu has filed a separate application seeking orders to open his bank account that was frozen after he was sued for abetting theft at the bank.

He said in court papers that Imperial Bank, whose management was taken over by the CBK, had obtained orders against him through misinterpretation that he was part of the wider cartel that swindled billions of shillings from the lender, leading to its collapse.