The office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution has said it hasn’t sanctioned charges against Crane bank shareholder Sudhir Ruparelia.
The DPP’s head of the Public Relations and International Cooperation Department, Ms Jane Akuo Kajuga said that despite the prosecution agency receiving a complaint from Bank of Uganda on the matter, it is the mandate of police to investigate and sanction charges upon which DPP can act. However, Ms Kajuga reaffirmed that their office is still studying the compliant by BoU.
DPP’s clarification on the matter could ease the tension which is building between the two parties and also affecting the business interests of entrepreneur Sudhir. Earlier speculation was high when it was alleged that government had sanctioned the take over some of Sudhir’s property but this too was dismissed by Tourism Minister Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu.
BoU lodged a case at the High Court against Sudhir for allegedly tapping money from Crane.The Central Bank wants Sudhir compelled to return Shs 397billion, which he is accused to have illegally extracted from Crane Bank, as well as the bank’s land titles that he transferred to his company Meera.
However as the DPP came out, this website learnt that properties worth about six hundred billion shillings (Shs600bn) deposited as security in the now-defunct Crane Bank by dozens of customers who defaulted on loans is majorly responsible for tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia’s current woes, sources have said.
Speaking to the EagleOnline on condition of anonymity, the source said the Shs600bn was written off as ‘bad debt’ but that some senior officials in the Central Bank’s Supervision Directorate that is under Ms. Justin Bagyenda have an interest in the money for personal gain, despite efforts by the former owners of Crane Bank to prove that the securities deposited by loan defaulters were of a higher pecuniary value, and could be sold to offset any debt.
