FORMER CHASE BANK MANAGERSTO FACE MORE CHARGES.

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BY PHOEBE WANJOHI.

Former top managers of Chase Bank limited who are charged with conspiring to defraud the said bank Sh1.1 billion may face more charges.

Appearing before the trial magistrate, the prosecution indicated that the investigating officer received fresh information and sent it to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for review. According to the prosecutor, the information may lead to more charges against the accused persons.

The prosecutor pleaded with the court to give him one month to decide whether to amend the charge sheet and supply it to the defense lawyers.

He further told the court that they may also amend the charge sheet and remove the 8th accused person Leonard Petrus Vlasman who is in the Netherlands so that they can proceed without him.

The move to drop Mr Vlasman was promoted by one of the defence lawyers who sought to clarify whether the matter will proceed without him and another accused who is alleged to have died in Ghana.

The court heard that the investigating officer is seeking mutual legal assistance with the government of Netherlands to assist to extradite Vlasman to Kenya to face the charges against him.

Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi declined to give the prosecution one month but directed the matter to be mentioned within the next three weeks.

Mohammed Zafrulla Khan, Duncan Gichu Kabui, James Mwenja, Makarios Agumbi, Patrick Musimba, Angela Musimba, Luciene Sunter, Vlasman, Porting Assess Limited and Itecs limited are facing fraud charges over the collapsed lender.

They are accused that between January 23, 2015 and March 31, 2016 at Chase bank limited headquarters in Nairobi city, with intent to defraud jointly conspired to steal from chase bank Sh 1,150,125,587.20 by irregularly disbursing the said amount to porting Assess limited and Itecs limited without following the payment process as stipulated in the finance policy of the said chase bank.

They are also accused of stealing the same amount of money between the same period at the headquarters.

Khan is also charged with stealing in his capacity as the bank’s director jointly with others not before court.

He is also charged alongside Kabui, Mwenja and Agumbi are charged with knowingly or reasonably ought to have known that Sh 740,442,687.20 formed part of proceeds of crime removed the said money from the bank’s internal account and facilitated its transfer to two bank accounts domiciled at Paramount Universal Bank.

Musimba who is a member of Parliament and his wife Mwende Musimba, Sunter, Vlasman and the two companies ate accuses of jointly knowingly or reasonably ought to have known that Sh 409,682,900 formed part of proceeds of crime removed the said money from the bank and transferred the same to another account domiciled at Kenya Commercial Bank, Kipande branch.

They are also charged with money laundering.        

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