Family Bank seeks court’s help in fraud case

Family Bank has found itself deeply immersed in a fraud case perpetrated by one of its former senior employees. [Courtesy]

Family Bank is fighting to cushion itself from loss of funds arising from a fraud case perpetrated by one of its former senior employees.

This is after the Magistrates Court found the lender’s ex-credit manager Mary Wamaitha (pictured) guilty of falsifying a title deed belonging to a bank client named Joel Mwaniki in 2014, which she used to borrow a Sh1.8 million loan from her employer. The High Court has now sentenced her to 21 years imprisonment unless she pays a Sh1.06 million fine.

Family Bank, which stands to lose the money borrowed by Ms Wamaitha if the forged title deed reverts to Mr Mwaniki, has filed for a judicial review of the judgment.

“The land Donyo Sabuk/Komarock Block 1/12869 belongs to the complainant Joel Mwaniki and should revert to him from the accused person Mary Wamaitha Murui, as it was illegally transferred without his knowledge or consent,” Senior Principal Magistrate D Orimba said in the judgment dated July 18. “The land registrar is hereby directed to comply with the orders.”

According to the court documents, Ms Wamaitha, once in possession of Mwaniki’s title deed, wrote a letter to the Machakos County Land Registrar using a forged signature from Mr Mwaniki, asking the Registrar to change the ownership of the title deed and let it reflect her name.

Process loan

She used the forged document to process the loan from Family Bank. “In the case, the accused did apply for the loan after charging the title with the bank. From the evidence on record, it is clear that the means through which the title changed hands was fraudulent,” Justice Orimba said in his judgment.

Despite the court ordering the Machakos County Land boss to revert the ownership to Mwaniki, he is yet to do so, a month after the judgment.

Family Bank said it would be filing for a judicial review of the judgment on September 9.