Court discharges trader as ex-Chase Bank boss returns

A court has discharged a trader who had stood surety for former Chase Bank chairman Zafrullah Khan when he flew out to America for specialised treatment.

Senior principal magistrate Martha Mutuku discharged the surety for Nasrullah Khan after lawyer Cecil Miller presented Mr Khan who is charged with stealing Sh1.15 billion from the bank alongside others.

“As I had undertaken last September to present Mr Khan back to this court after attending a medical procedure overseas I wish to happily indicate that he is back,” said Mr Miller.

The advocate, who is defending the former top banker, urged the magistrate to discharge security that had been deposited in court by a close confidant of Mr Khan since the accused has returned as agreed.

The magistrate was also asked to release the passport of the trader then fix the case for further directions within two weeks.

Ms Mutuku allowed the plea by Mr Miller and discharged the trader’s security and passport, which had been deposited in court as a condition that he would ensure the former Chase Bank chairman reports back to court after treatment overseas.

The magistrate commended the accused for keeping his word that “he will travel out of the jurisdiction of this court for specialised treatment in America and return to stand trial”.

Mr Khan is charged alongside the bank’s former managing director Duncan Kabui with stealing Sh1.15 billion from the lender.

The Central Bank of Kenya’s Banking Fraud Investigations Department had introduced fresh charges, adding a new dimension to the long-running case.

Others indicted alongside Mr Khan and Mr Kabui include former Chase Bank general manager for corporate credit James Mwaura Mwenja, former general manager Makarios Omondi Agumbi, Lucien Sunter Vlasman, Ronald Petrus, Porting Access Limited and Itecs Limited.

Mr Khan has denied four counts of conspiracy to defraud, stealing and money laundering. He faces two other cases arising from the same transactions.

He and his co-accused are charged with stealing Sh1,150,125,587 from Chase Bank between January 23, 2015, and March 2016.

Mr Khan had been separately charged with stealing the money by virtue of his employment.