The UK Court of Appeal has upheld the claims of Crane Bank and its shareholders for hundreds of millions of US Dollars against DFCU Bank, its executive directors, non-executive directors and that the shareholders can proceed to be heard by the English courts.
In agreement with Sudhir Ruparelia and seven additional applicants, the Court of Appeal claims that Crane Bank Limited (CBL) was acquired by DFCU Bank and its stockholders through a corruption operation involving Bank of Uganda employees. The court also recommends that Bank of Uganda officials at the centre of the transaction be prosecuted for corruption.
The decision follows a lower court's ruling in which both DFCU and BoU were cleared of wrongdoing in a $211 million lawsuit by Lord Pelling QC of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales on October 19, 2022. Judge Pelling based the ruling on the grounds that there was no serious issue to be tried, declaring that the court has no jurisdiction to try the appellants’ claims against the respondents and setting aside service of the Claim Form on them.
The court ordered DFCU Bank, DFCU Limited, its holding company, and Jimmy Mugerwa, the bank's former board chairman, to pay shareholders of the former Crane Bank £ 1,875,000 (UGX8.8 billion) in court costs. Juma Kisaame and William Sekambembe, the bank's former Managing Director and Executive Director, respectively, have also been ordered to pay.