Eye on five banks in NYS 2 scam as special prosecutors take up case

Eye on five banks in NYS 2 scam as special prosecutors take up case

The case involving five banks in the National Youth Service (NYS) 2 scandal will be now be reviewed by a team of special prosecutors.

Standard Chartered, Equity, Kenya Commercial Bank, Diamond Trust Bank & Co-operative Bank have been under investigation with regard to criminal culpability.

“I have constituted a team of Special Prosecutors to independently review the respective investigation files and make recommendations within 14 days,” the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji said.

The banks are suspected of violating laws that govern them when it comes to provisions of proceeds of crime and anti-money laundering.

These include failure to report large cash transactions and undertake adequate customer due diligence as well as lack of supporting documentation for large transactions.

Lapses in the reporting of suspicious transaction reports to the Financial Reporting Centre are also being questioned.

Investigations into the NYS 2 saga that saw the loss of Ksh.8billion in public funds hit several high profile individuals and entities with charges.

It resulted in penalties and strict supervision regime to address the identified lapses.

HIGHEST PENALTY HIT KCB

KCB Group was penalised the highest at Ksh.149.5million while Equity Bank followed second with Ksh.89.5million.

The penalty for Standard Chartered Bank was Ksh.77.5million, DTB Ksh.56million and Co-operative Bank Ksh.20million.

The five banks reportedly handled a total of Ksh.3.5billion from NYS with StanChart handling the largest transaction worth Ksh.1.6billion.

Equity Bank supposedly handled Ksh.886million while KCB processed Ksh.639million.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has recommended that charges be preferred against the five institutions, bank officials and entities accused of concealing and facilitating, aiding, abetting and benefiting from proceeds of crime.

HOW MUCH DID EACH BANK RECEIVE?

Standard Chartered Bank received a total of Ksh.1,628,902,000 between January 2016 and April 2018.

Out of this, it was established that Ksh.558,558,000 was suspiciously transacted by bank officials and no report was made to the financial reporting center as required by the POCAMLA regulations.

KCB was established to have received a total of Ksh.800 million.

From this, Ksh.148,397,000 was transacted by bank officials without proper regulations.

Equity Bank received a total of Ksh.886,426, 904 out of which Ksh.264,200,000 was suspiciously transacted by bank officials in violation of the law.

Diamond Trust Bank was established to have received a total of Ksh.164million.

Bank officials supposedly transacted Ksh27, 946,296 which raised suspicions in the investigations.

Cooperative Bank received a total of Ksh.250million with investigations revealing that Ksh.25million was suspiciously transacted.

Tags:

Equity KCB Standard Chartered bank Cooperative Bank DTB NYS 2

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories