LONDON, United Kingdom — In a significant procedural development for dfcu bank, the High Court of England has ordered Ugandan property mogul Sudhir Ruparelia to surrender his mobile phone for expert forensic analysis as part of an ongoing legal dispute involving Crane Bank Limited (CBL) and dfcu bank.
The same ruling also directed Sheena Ruparelia, wife of Jay Sakaria, the chief actuary at GoldStar Insurance Co. Ltd, to disclose relevant materials from her personal email.
These directives follow observations by Justice Paul Stanley, who noted that comprehensive reports prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd (PwC), spanning over 150 pages and detailing events from the early 2000s, raise serious concerns regarding the management of Crane Bank.
The reports point to alleged instances of mismanagement, including the creation of a deliberately false impression on the bank’s balance sheet, concealment of shareholder identities, diversion of bank funds, and the execution of “sweetheart deals” with insiders.
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Crane Bank’s legal team had previously argued that PwC, which was commissioned by the Bank of Uganda to conduct a forensic audit of Crane Bank, was not genuinely part of the globally recognized PwC network.
They further contended that the PwC reports were inadmissible in court as evidence of any primary facts. However, the court rejected both claims, clearing the way for PwC’s findings to be considered in the case.
In a statement, dfcu bank reiterated its consistent position that the allegations against it are baseless, emphasizing that it acted lawfully throughout the entire acquisition process of Crane Bank Limited.
