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5 Kenyan banks fingered in looting of public funds

Published

6 years ago

September 12, 2018

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has slapped hefty fines on five top banks that are alleged to have been involved in the transactions of the second phase of the National Youth Service scandal.

Investigations by CBK revealed that the five banks were used by persons suspected of transacting illegally acquired NYS funds using the financial institutions.

The five banks, which were fined a total of Ksh.394 million include; Kenya Commercial Bank, Equity Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Diamond Trust and Cooperative Bank of Kenya.

Of the total amount, KCB will pay the highest monetary penalty of Ksh.149.5 million followed by Equity Bank which has been hit with a fine of Ksh.89.5 million and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd, whose penalty is Ksh.77.5 million.

Diamond Trust Bank and Co-operative Bank of Kenya have been fined Ksh.56 million and Ksh.20 million respectively.

A statement issued by the Central Bank on Wednesday indicates that over Ksh.3.6 billion was wired through the five banks with the largest flow of Ksh.1.6 billion having been channeled through Standard Chartered Bank.

Equity bank and KCB are reported to have handled Ksh.886 million and Ksh.639 million respectively while Diamond Trust Bank is said to have facilitated Ksh.162 million from the NYS loot.

Some of the violations include failure to report large cash transactions, failure to undertake adequate customer due diligence, lack of supporting documentation for large transactions, and lapses in the reporting of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) to the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC).

Related Topics:CBK Central Bank of Kenya Kenyan banks public funds Slam Reports

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3 years after, Nigeria’s Belemaoil restarts Oil Lease 55

Published

3 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following a three-year hiatus due to theft-related damage to the plant, Nigerian independent producer, Belemaoil Producing, has reopened operations at its oil block on Oil Mining Lease 55, the company announced on Monday.

In February 2015, Belemaoil purchased OML 55 from Chevron Corp. OML 55 is situated in a marsh to shallow water area, approximately 40 kilometres west of the Bonny oil export facility.

According to a statement by a Belemaoil representative, widespread oil theft from OML 55’s delivery line to the Bonny terminal forced the closure of the facility in 2021.

The block has five oilfields, which provide more than 70 million standard cubic feet of petrol per day and around 14,000 barrels per day, according to the business.

An official stated that the first floating oil storage vessel arrived at OML 55 on October 6th, signalling “a major milestone in the company’s efforts to restart production”.

Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa, is attempting to increase its crude production, which has decreased recently as a result of widespread theft and sabotage, which drove oil majors to abandon onshore drilling in favour of deepwater production.

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Kenya permits JPMorgan Chase to open representative office

Published

5 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The central bank of Kenya announced on Monday that JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) had been permitted to create a new tab and open a representative office in the East African nation.

According to a statement from the Central Bank of Kenya, representative offices of foreign banks in Kenya act as hubs for marketing and communication for their parent banks and affiliates.

The announcement further stated that the JPMorgan Chase representative office will help to diversify Kenya’s banking industry and encourage trade and investment.

In an effort by the largest United States lender to grow on the continent, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is scheduled to visit Africa in mid-October, according to a report published by Reuters last month, which cited four people with knowledge of the situation.

Within the next three years, the bank intends to renovate 1,700 existing branches and open 500 new ones. According to J.P. Morgan’s most recent financial report, as of the end of the second quarter of 2024, the bank had 4,884 branches.