Dubai Bank Chairman Hassan Zubedi (center) chats with lawyer Joe Nzyoka (left) for the Banks Employees and Lawyer Maurice Otieno Omuga acting for Richardson and David limited outside a courtroom at Milimani law courts on Monday October 12,2015.
BY SAM ALFAN.
Disgruntled chairman of the collapsed Dubai Bank, Mr Ahmed Zubedi has moved to court seeking the dismissal of Central Bank of Kenya lawyer Ochieng Oduol from the case.
Mr Zubedi cites conflict of interest.
In an application to the high court yesterday, the bank chairman said lawyer Oduol had represented his bank before and therefore would not be objective in the case against his former client.
“Mr Ochieng having occupied a professional position for both the bank and against it should not be allowed to lead or plead for the first respondent or any party in these proceedings,” Mr Zubedi says.
He also claimed that Mr Ochieng had ongoing cases against the bank and therefore should not participate in the case.
“Mr Oduol should recuse himself from acting as lead counsel in this matter because of his interactions with the bank and its employees which led to his access to official, confidential information of the bank,” Mr Zebedi said.
Lawyer Oduol, he said, is involved in related proceedings in other courts among them a criminal case against him over an alleged illegal termination of employment of one Nereah Michael.
Dubai Bank has challenged its liquidation; this is after an audit revealed that the bank has made massive losses back dating to over five years ago.
On Friday, Central Bank of Kenya told Justice Eric Ogola that operations at Dubai Bank were suspect and lacked proper management as required by law.
The court heard that its books of accounts had been manipulated and that actual balances in different bank accounts were inaccurately stated.
According to CBK, the bank’s cash balances were also overstated and its liabilities running above Sh3 billion, had not been indicated in its records.
Dubai bank in addition had a Sh4.16 billion non-performing portfolio and several incidences of parallel banking transactions that were not in the official records of the bank.
“This is not a bank and we will disclose to this court why it is being liquidated,” lawyer Ochieng Oduor, for CBK and Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) told the court.
The report by CBK also indicates that the bank’s management failed to address high levels of non-performing loans.
Ruling will be made on Friday.
