NBK's pension scheme trustees sued for alleged witch-hunt

An actuary who allegedly occasioned a lawsuit by 134 former employees of National Bank of Kenya (NBK) has now sued the bank’s staff retirement benefits scheme trustees.

Robert Oketch has sued Alexander Forbes Financial Services and its Chief Executive Sundeep Raichura on the grounds that it filed a complaint with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Disciplinary Scheme regarding his report, which allegedly unearthed massive looting by the scheme’s management.

Inequittable manner

Through lawyer Titus Koceyo, Mr Oketch claims the trustees went after him as a punishment for authoring the report even after he was allegedly acquitted by the Actuarial Society of South Africa.

“The petitioner states that in his report, he identified illegal actions carried out by the first to fourth respondents’ actions which disenfranchised a large section of members,” read documents filed at the High Court.

He alleges in the suit Alexander Forbes prepared an illegal report in 2000, which was used to allegedly transfer large amounts of money from the NBK Staff Retirement Benefits Scheme.

“The petitioner will demonstrate why this report was illegal and how a few management staff within the bank essentially transferred large portions of benefits from broad membership to themselves in a very inequitable manner contrary to requirements by the RBA (Retirement Benefits Authority).”

Mr Oketch claims the plan was hatched to conceal their acts in anticipation that there would be retrenchment and those laid off would get little benefits.

He further alleges the complaint by NBK was meant to sabotage his career and amounted to double jeopardy.