DFCU AGREES TO RETURN CRANE BANK’S 48 FRAUDULENTLY SOLD PROPERTIES

By our reporter

www.mknewslink.com

In Kampala

DFCU Bank has written a letter to Bank of Uganda (the regulator) expressing its interest to return land titles and securities of 48 properties which housed former Crane Bank before it was fraudulently sold by Bank of Uganda to DFCU.

These properties belonged to businessman Sudhir Ruparelia and his Meera Investments Limited.

In the sale, however, the Central Bank also handed over the securities of 48 buildings to DFCU without a well streamlined audit of these properties to establish their value.

According to the Auditor General John Muwanga’s report released last year, he faulted BoU of rushing to sell Crane Bank and instructing the buyer to conduct an audit of the bank.

DFCU hired an audit firm PwC which valued the whole 48 properties at shs 47 billion- a price believed to have been under declared with a motive to pay less stamp duty to tax body Uganda Revenue Authority.

But also on the shs 47 billion, DFCU paid  BoU only shs 10 billion for the lease of these properties.

On Wednesday BoU released an annual report which captures information suggesting that DFCU has agreed to return the land titles of 48 Crane Bank Branches and the bank seeks full refund of 47 billion which it claims was the value of the buildings it occupied after 2 years.

Questions lingering are who will be accountable to this 37 billion in case BoU raids coffers to compensate DFCU?

Also if DFCU was given a lease of the buildings under what circumstances does it demand full refund yet it has been occupying the properties.

The whole ping pong is likened to buying a car from a bond at 20 million you pay 40% and after driving it for 3 years you return it to the bond seeking 100% refund.

Expert say, by under declaring the value of the 48 properties while leasing, DFCU was aimed at evading tax which is criminal.

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