Diamond Bank Kenya (DTB) which is associated with His Highness the Aga Khan, has been on the spotlight over claims of money laundering like for instance when it was fined Sh162 million by the Central Bank of Kenya for being used as a conduit by suspects in the multibillion shillings National Youth Service (NYS) fraud.
From information desk, the Bank CEO, Naseen Devji, was arrested and grilled by Anti-Terrorism Police unit but never arraigned in court.
In fact, investigations revealed that the CEO was aware that one of the terrorists, Hassan Nur, made 13 withdrawals of Sh400,000 each on January 4 2019 and another Sh100,000.
However, the CEO’s presumed prosecution was shelved after what insiders at the bank claimed was due to a phone call from His Highness the Aga Khan, the leader of Ismailiah sect made to then President Uhuru Kenyatta.
It is imperative to note, the then house which Uhuru owned located next to State House was donated by Aga Khan to the late first president of the nation Jomo Kenyatta who is Uhuru’s father.
In a paidup advertisement in one of the dailies, the bank’s company secretary Stephen Kodumbe said: “DTB has taken note of the charges preferred on February 20 2019 against Sophia Njoki Mbogo, the branch manager at our Eastleigh branch. We continue to cooperate with the law enforcement and stand with our fellow Kenyans during this challenging time of seeking answers.”
Naseen Devji ordered the Eastleigh branch manager, Sophia Mbogo, to allow the withdrawals. Mbogo was charged in court for authoring the withdrawals of Sh34.7 million believed to have aided in the Dusit terrorist attack in Riverside on January 14.
Njoki was charged and pleaded not guilty to three counts; failure to report suspicious proceeds of crime, aiding and abetting terrorism and failure to report money laundering.
She denied the charges before Milimani Law Court chief magistrate Francis Andayi and was released on bail.
However, there are claims senior officials at the bank are involved in money laundering where they connive with some crooked government officials.
Njoki’s arraignment in court came shortly after the bank was sued by a client who lost Sh150 million mysteriously from her fixed deposit accounts at one of the bank’s branches in Nairobi.
The case exposed the underhand deals at the bank.
Sun Pil Lim, a South Korean investor and chairperson of Daehan Pharmaceutical Limited, took DTB to court after her attempts to get an explanation from the bank regarding the state of her accounts fell in deaf ears.
She filed two lawsuits at the Commercial and Admiralty Division of the High Court in efforts to recover her money.
According to the court documents, Lim and three directors of Daehan Pharmaceutical Limited identified as Jolly Jeminah Lanji Ouko, Lee Jong and Jang Jongmin opened a fixed deposit account at DTB, Thika Road Mall branch, on May 19 2015.
Daehan Pharmaceutical deposited Sh100 million in the fixed account on October 24 2015. Two of the company’s directors were appointed signatory to the account.
Lim, who is wife of Safari Park Hotel president Young Roh opened another fixed account in her name and deposited Sh50 million in the account.
DTB issued certificates of deposits on October 28 2015, and November 5 2015.
Trouble started when Daehan Pharmaceutical Limited board in December 2017 sought to know the state of the fixed deposit accounts.
Lim alleged the company failed to get information they were looking for from the DTB and that the branch manager became evasive. The investor then moved to court to force the bank to furnish her with information regarding her accounts and the order was granted.
DTB finally provided Lim with the documents and it was at that point she discovered money had been withdrawn from the accounts without her approval as one of the signatories.
The money, according to documents, was withdrawn between March 10 2016 and December 4 2017 using 157 cheques in what took a total of 146 transactions to clear the entire Sh100 million.
She claimed one of the directors, Lee, forged her signature and conspired with the bank manager to liquidate the account and share the money.
“Mr Lee informed us that he shared the money with the said manager in order to be allowed to liquidate the deposit and withdraw the money,” reads the plaint.
To facilitate the liquidation and withdrawal, Sun claimed the bank relied on an undated letter on July 12 2016, which led to the premature liquidation of Sh30 million, where her signature too was forged.
Similar letters were presented to the bank on July 12 and October 26 2016 and were also used to liquidate the remaining Sh70 million.
Diamond Trust Bank CEO Nasim Devji.
The same scheme was used to empty Sun’s personal fixed deposit account, which was the subject of the second civil suit, case number EO 68 of 2018.
She says that although in the account where she had put Sh50 million she was the sole signatory, Lee forged her signature, wrote a letter requesting the liquidation of the deposit, which was then transferred to a different account.
She wanted the court to order DTB to pay her a total of Sh169,944,520, as well as the interest this money had earned from October 24 2016, costs of the two suits and any other relief the court may find fit.
There were other reports, intense lobbying by the bank directors was the reason the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit failed to charge the bank’s chief executive who had earlier been arrested, with aiding terrorism by failing to report suspicious transactions.
This came as her juniors cooled their heels in various police cells but pressure from the directors hampered everything.
The Anti-Terrorism Police Unit had prepared to charge the CEO. ATPU within the National Police Service is mandated to mitigate terrorism-related cases in the country.
They had arrested the CEO, and detained her for a few hours before pressure from top government officials forced them to release her.
Six months prior to the stalemate, a senior bank employee, Sungu Nyakomitta of the Kisii branch was accused of siphoning millions of shillings from customers’ accounts.
Reports shared by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations revealed Nyakomitta of Diamond Trust Bank stole Sh25 million from a customer’s fixed account numbers.
“Peter Sungu Nyakomitta, a Branch Manager with Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) in Kisii was arrested and arraigned in Milimani Law Courts for stealing Sh25million from customer’s fixed account numbers. The theft was discovered after an internal reconciliation process was done,” the DCI tweeted on X.
With proper audit today, it would be mayhem at DTB. It is advisable to keep on checking the status of your fixed account balance as you might be disappointed when you need your savings the most. Your hefty savings are at greater risks.
KenyanHour 