Mombasa couple in court over Sh1bn Imperial cash
Lawyer Francis Kadima who is representing Mombasa businessman Mr Mr Ashok Doshi and his wife Amit addresses journalists outside Mombasa Law Courts on April 19, 2016. The couple is seeking to have the Central Bank of Kenya and Imperial Bank suspend a scheme of payment to depositors that is being implemented by two commercial banks. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Through lawyer Francis Kadima, the couple want an injunction restraining the CBK and Imperial Bank from continuing with any dealings with their money in any manner, either by investing, transferring to other banks or the Kenya Insurance Deposit Corporation.
- They also want an order directing the defendants to file Imperial Bank’s statement of accounts showing liquidity in the deposit account, audit statement published and approved for 2014/2015 and any other liquid and tangible securities held by the CBK as of October 13, last year.
- The couple held both US dollar and shillings accounts with Imperial Bank, which is under receivership.
A Mombasa businessman and his wife have gone to court, seeking to have the Central Bank of Kenya and the troubled Imperial Bank suspend a scheme of payment to depositors that is being implemented by two commercial banks.
Mr Ashok Doshi and his wife Amit, who had deposited Sh1 billion in Imperial Bank, also want the court to order the defendants to put the same amount of money into an escrow account in the names of their advocates.
Through lawyer Francis Kadima, the couple want an injunction restraining the CBK and Imperial Bank from continuing with any dealings with their money in any manner, either by investing, transferring to other banks or the Kenya Insurance Deposit Corporation.
They also want an order directing the defendants to file Imperial Bank’s statement of accounts showing liquidity in the deposit account, audit statement published and approved for 2014/2015 and any other liquid and tangible securities held by the CBK as of October 13, last year.
The couple held both US dollar and shillings accounts with Imperial Bank, which is under receivership.
Mr Kadima argues the court has jurisdiction to intervene before or after an institution is placed under receivership.
PAY INSURED AMOUNTS
“The defendants are liable to pay both insured amounts and protected deposits once an institution is put under receivership,” Mr Kadima says in his suit papers.
Deposits the Imperial Bank held at the time it was put under receivership, he said, were enough to pay all depositors.
He said the reason for CBK’s intervention was not insolvency, but discovery of a fraudulent scheme the regulator is describing as a “parallel bank” that had existed over a period of time.
He said a proposal to pay depositors communicated through the media was illegal and ought to be halted until defendants produce a report of the forensic finding of FTI Consulting LLP London and their own investigations.
“The plaintiffs have a legitimate claim and the same ought to be heard urgently to avoid any further hardship that might result in a total loss of their money,” said Mr Kadima.
The application will be heard early next month.
