As the new owners DFCU complete the Crane Bank takeover, TheUgandan can reveal that Bank of Uganda, financial fraud lawyers and Uganda Police are speeding up their forensic audit with a view to gather evidence to use to prosecute former owner Sudhir Ruparelia in courts of law.
Crane Bank was controlled by the Ruparelia family at 47 per cent, with MS White Sapphire, a company domiciled in the Mauritius, holding 46 per cent of the shares.
Ms Justine Bagyenda, the executive director supervision at BoU, says the former top management and shareholders of the bank will soon have to explain why the bank became significantly undercapitalised in a space of less than a year.
“There is a forensic investigation going on to find out whether there were people involved in the loss. The investigation will have numbers as well as legal implications,” she said.
In the financial world, forensic audit investigations are often carried out in order to evaluate whether there is enough information to bring the matter to court for criminal proceedings basing on whether there was fraud, embezzlement, excessive insider lending, weak corporate governance and whether financial claims can be made against the individuals responsible.
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Different sources say President Museveni has given full backing in as far as the prosecution of Sudhir, his daughter Sheena who has been superintending Crane Bank on behalf of his family and the other shareholders of Crane bank are concerned if found guilty.
The forensic investigations are expected to be completed within a month to pin the top individuals who were responsible for causing the massive erosion of capital.
Sudhir is said to be speaking to his friends high up in government asking them to speak to the president in turn to save him from prosecution and attachment of his properties as he races against time.
