Suntra retires 12 managers as losses pile up

By Jackson Okoth

In a rare admission, leading stockbroker, Suntra Investment Bank, said it is experiencing financial difficulties, and has been forced to retire 12 senior managers.

"Business is so low at the moment that we are actually eating into our own funds,’’ Wachira Nguru, Chairman Suntra Investment Bank told The Standard Wednesday at a briefing in Nairobi. With more than 78,000 account holders and a portfolio worth Sh50 billion, Suntra Investment Bank has been in the spotlight after recent reports that police were seeking some of its senior managers over allegations of fraud.

The allegations arose from a 2007 transaction involving an alleged illegal sale of 45,000 East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) shares worth Sh6 million belonging to one of its clients.

Court charges

One of the senior managers has already been charged in court over the alleged fraud. The client has filed a civil suit against Suntra Investment Bank and the CDSC over the alleged loss. Wachira was, however, at pains to explain how the alleged fraud occurred without detection. He said that once investigations are over and the case determined, the bank would abide by the court’s ruling.

"Should Suntra be found to have been culpable or wanting in this particular transaction, then we shall have no alternative but to make a restitution to our client," said Nguru.

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