he shafted mwalimu sacco big time but he had point men in the sacco. Economic punishments need to be enforced in Kenya .
Mr Merali’s sale of the bank and his withdrawal of Sh1.7 billion deposits from Spire Bank days after selling the lender to Mwalimu has added to concerns that the businessman sold teachers a dead bank after pocketing Sh2.4 billion for ceding the 75 percent stake.
It requires Sh3.5 billion to meet the CBK’s minimum capital levels. Teachers have sunk more than Sh4 billion in the bank.
The sacco’s buyout of the bank had raised eyebrows when it first became public, with various government agencies opposing the deal before later approving it. Mwalimu made the acquisition without conducting due diligence on the bank. Former officials of the sacco were also accused of conflict of interest, with former CEO Robert Shibutse having worked for the then Equatorial Commercial Bank and other companies associated with Mr Merali.
Ahead of the transaction, the lender transferred its office building, Equatorial Fidelity Centre in Nairobi’s Westlands area, to its associate company Fidelity Shield Insurance, in which it held a minority stake at the time. Despite the lender’s historical losses, former officials of Mwalimu remained upbeat about the deal.
Hawa walimu waache kusumbua birrionaire. If they failed to conduct due diligence wabebe msalaba wao. Did they think everything is done in a jua kali way like they do in their sacco? Kwani they didn’t notice any anomaly when they purchased the initial 75% stake? That deal gave them a controlling interest, so they can’t claim to have been in the dark about the bank’s shady business practices. Why did they go ahead to purchase the remaining 25%? Did they engage a reputable auditor to guide them in the process? Washike adabu washienzi hao.
i think ni interest za huyo CEO he had worked with merali before, so ni kama they were in it together hata hiyo buy out ya 25% , he knew what he was doing. I think it portrays how saccos are managed in Kenya, once you have delegates on in your pocket, you get a wild card to do whatever you want .
The only valuable thing in that bank is the banking license. If CBK resumed giving those out to investors, then they have nothing valuable left. Officials of mwalimu sacco were in bed with Merali to shaft teachers. It is as simple as that.
Merali sold them a dead bank and they probably received hefty kickbacks to approve the transaction on behalf of teachers.
It doesn’t work like that. Financial crimes are the biggest crimes in this era and yet they always go unpunished. The government should place modern laws. Otherwise the rich will get richer and the poor poorer. Si mambo ya due dilligence. You can do al the due dilligence in the world but if a billioanire wants to shaft you he will do so.
This is nonsense. You have no business buying a bank if you can’t figure out that you’re getting shafted. That means even without Meralli, some other crooks would have drained the bank without the owners’ knowledge. As much as we need stronger laws against financial crimes, people also need to take responsibility for their stupidity.
Unaargue na huelewi point. The point is the shafting has already happened but Merali will face no consequences and that’s the point. There need to be modern laws to combat financial crimes. If you think that’s nonsense sijui nikusaidie aje.
My point is Meralli didn’t do the shafting on his own. He must have colluded with SACCO officials to dupe members. Alafu this was a perennially lossmaking bank, probably something Meralli utilized to launder funds and evade taxes rather than make money from it. For these idiots to go ahead and buy it knowing too well the bank’s history, then turn around and act surprised that it’s actually a shell, is the height of stupidity. So my argument is that it’s a bit simplistic to point at Meralli and blame him for the teachers’ woes. You can legislate against crime, but you can’t do the same against stupidity.
Merali is the embodiment of what capitalism is all about.You snooze you lose.Merali shafts you so well that going to court is a complete waste of time.
Of course Merali shafted the bank. I called this out on another thread but a Mr. @Unknown Fela was calling him a genius. Even Due diligence could not have rescued Mwalimu Sacco. Merali baited them into a sale. And tipped off their executives. All they purchased is a name and bank accounts. Usually when you purchase a bank, you buy the customer accounts, the bank properties, bank assets, bank name, bank investments and bank cash in hand. As long as you don’t include each in the sales contract, you didn’t buy. The assets are held in escrow until the sales is final.
As long as they didn’t categorically state what they were purchasing, they can’t nail Merali in court.