Top executive Joshua Oigara on Wednesday got temporary relief after the High Court blocked the Director of Public Prosecutions from prosecuting him in relation to a Sh700 million dispute with an aviation firm.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye also issued an order blocking the attendance of Oigara at DCI's banking fraud investigations unit for statement recording over the dispute.
The Judge issued the orders after advocate Hirum Nyaburi told the court that officers from the banking fraud unit were at his client's premises seeking to arrest him.
He argued that the application filed by Stanbic and it's CEO would be rendered useless if the court didn't intervene and issue interim reliefs pending determination of the matter before court.
The DPP was opposed to the orders sought on grounds that the Bank and Oigara did not meet the required threshold, adding that there has been no violation of any rights.
According to the documents filed in court, the DCI, through its banking fraud department, had summoned Oigara for statement recording into an alleged offence of fraudulent false accounting. The issue relates to a 2016 dispute between the Bank and Air Afrik Aviation Ltd.
The Airline had, on June 24 lodged a complaint with the Central Bank of Kenya regarding the alleged and unlilateral debiting of Air afrik bank account and the purported reversal of its fund by Oigara.
CBK, which serves as the regulator of all commercial banks in Kenya, probed the complaint, and on December 6, 2016, it found no
wrongdoing on the part of the bank.
CBK at the same time said the complaint ought to be disposed of through amicable resolution between the Bank and the airline or move to court and seek an appropriate relief.
The Airline subsequently filed a case against the bank, which is currently pending determination before Justice Nixon Sifuna.
It is why Oigara, in his petition before the court, argued that the issues raised by the DCI had already been investigated and concluded in December 2016.
"The statement is intended to harass and intimidate me, and unless the court intervenes, the DCI and DPP will proceed to maliciously arrest and charge me, he said.
The case will be mentioned on December 10 for further directions.
