Co-operative Bank CEO Gideon Muriuki moved quickly to the High Court and secured orders that halted his appearance before a Nairobi magistrate on serious criminal charges.
Instead of showing up at Milimani court on to answer allegations linked to hundreds of millions of shillings, Muriuki and his bank used conservatory orders to stop the process cold.
The charges stem from investigations into First Assurance Investment Ltd. Prosecutors say Muriuki and the bank failed to report suspicious transactions and face counts of conspiracy to defraud involving about Sh55.4 million.
The wider case alleges that more than Sh363 million was stolen from the company, with money moving through accounts at Co-operative Bank, NCBA and KCB. Busaidy, a director of First Assurance, is accused of taking the funds by virtue of his position.
The bank CEOs and their institutions are accused of failing to flag unusual activity as required under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act.
Muriuki did not wait for the magistrate’s court to begin plea-taking. On 7 August his lawyers obtained urgent High Court orders from Justice Gregory Mutai.
Those orders restrained the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations from arresting him, presenting him for plea, charging him or prosecuting him in the criminal case.
They also stayed all further proceedings in the magistrate’s court pending the hearing of his petition.
The High Court certified the matter as urgent and admitted it during the court recess, with the next appearance set for 12 October.
When the case was called on, lawyers told Chief Magistrate Gethi Kibiru that the High Court had already blocked the lower court from continuing. Similar orders covered the other two bank chiefs and their institutions.
The prosecution said it had received only some of the orders and needed time to verify the rest.
The magistrate gave the state until Wednesday to confirm service and authenticity before deciding the next step.
The speed of Muriuki’s application is striking. Summons had been issued requiring him and the other accused persons to appear. Rather than face the charges in open court, he and the bank went straight to the High Court and obtained interim protection that stops the criminal process in its tracks.
The orders do not decide guilt or innocence. They simply pause the prosecution while the constitutional petition is heard. Yet the practical effect is that Muriuki avoids the immediate scrutiny of a plea and the public examination of the evidence that would have followed.
Kenyan law requires banks and their senior officers to report suspicious transactions. The prosecution claims that duty was not met in relation to the First Assurance accounts.
Muriuki’s decision to seek a stay before even entering a plea raises questions about whether the priority is to clear his name through a full hearing or to keep the case from starting at all.
The High Court has the power to protect rights and prevent abuse of process.
At the same time, the public has an interest in seeing whether senior bankers who are alleged to have failed in anti-money-laundering duties will face the same process as any other citizen.
What is clear is that he moved with urgency to place a legal barrier between himself and the criminal charges. That barrier now stands, at least until the High Court revisits the matter in October.
Whether the stay ultimately protects legitimate rights or simply delays accountability will be for the judges to decide.
For now, the Co-operative Bank CEO has succeeded in stopping the lower court from proceeding against him.
