7 November 2009
Kampala — THE Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) is investigating Centenary Bank over suspected fraudulent transactions.
The probe comes after colossal sums of money were allegedly wired to several accounts, without any explanation.
"We are investigating about 10 accounts over such dealings," the CID director, Edward Ochom, said.
Ochom's remarks come hardly a day after Police detectives raided the head offices of the bank on Entebbe Road and carted away several computers and documents thought to be crucial to their investigations.
The remarks also come days after the Police held the bank's head of international transactions, John Henry Sserwaniko, over the fraudulent transactions.
"We want to know the source and for what purpose the money was wired," Ochom said.
Reports put the sum at the centre of the investigations at sh 5b.
Ochom said Sserwaniko was picked over failure to carry out a due diligence check despite overwhelming pointers about the dubious nature of the transactions.
"We had credible information that he had even been alerted in writing about the fraud when the money was wired which necessitated him to take action, but he instead went ahead and authorised its withdrawal," Ochom said.
Though speculation has been rife that the money could be linked to some terrorism activities, Ochom was hesitant to comment, saying the operation is ongoing and will spread to other banks.
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