Five senior managers of Imperial Bank were yesterday charged with conspiracy to defraud it of Sh29 billion through an illegal overdraft disbursement scheme.
Naeem Shah, James Kaburu, Nashir Jessa, Zulfikar Jessa and Nargis Jessa appeared before senior principal magistrate Joyce Gandani.
They denied engaging in organised criminal activities, fraudulent accounting by officers, theft and money laundering.
Through their lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, they made an application to be released on reasonable bond terms.
He said bail is a constitutional right and the charges they face are misdemeanors, not felonies.
Abdullahi told the court his clients’ bank accounts have been frozen and they have no other cash sources.
Complainant Central Bank of Kenya filed two civil suits in the High Court against them and Justice Fred Ochieng had issued several orders freezing their accounts, for recovery of assets and their property on October 27 last year.
The bank was placed in receivership in September last year.
Senior state counsel Victor Mule did not oppose the bond request but said their passports should be retained due to the gravity of the case.
The magistrate directed the case be mentioned today for a ruling on bond terms and ordered each accused to retain the police cash bail of Sh500,000 granted on Tuesday.
