- The Bank`s idle talk caused a big financial loss to a Ugandan Company, which was ironically a customer of Dfcu itself, the investigator breaks the alarming intrigue. The company known as Dynamic Consortium had painfully, but successfully negotiated with an Australian firm for supply of laminated glass, only for Dfcu to maliciously frustrate the arrangement. The local company would,following years of negotiations, finally clinch the deal on August 13, 2014 by penning an agreement with the foreign makers of glass.
But Dfcu would end up sabotaging the whole deal by a mere stroke of the pen! The bank carried out the intrigue by writing to the Australian firm’s bankers referring to it’s own customer as a fraudster!
This, after the foreign company’s (Glatech Verfahre Nstechni Gmbh’s ) bankers had sent to Dfcu an agreement, bill of lending and packaging list for the customer to pay for the goods before the five containers of glass he was ordering for could be shipped to Uganda.
Apparently, the local company didn’t have at that particular moment, close to 350, 000 Euros which the foreign company was pricing it’s goods at. So, in order not to lose out, the local firm quickly found another customer who was willing and ready to pay for the glass.
That customer was banking with Equity bank. His name is Patrick Makumbi. The local company accordingly informed the suppliers in Australia and Dfcu about the deal he had entered with Makumbi after finding himself financially unable to pay for the glass.
It was subsequently agreed between the Australian suppliers, it’s bankers and the local company for the documents earlier submitted to Dfcu by the supplier’s bankers to be now forwarded to Equity to process payment on behalf of Makumbi so that the glass could be shipped to Uganda.
This was, but the logical thing to follow in the circumstances of the case since Equity was now the bank which was supposed to process payment on behalf of Makumbi and wire the funds to the supplier’s bank. Dfcu instead of doing as thus; wrote back to the foreign bank, alleging how they had crosschecked with Equity and discovered Makumbi to be an absolute ghost! Dfcu then dispatched the documents earlier sent by the supplier’s bankers back to Australia.
The Judge’s Take
After receiving both oral and documentary testimony as well as submissions from the local company and Dfcu, Justice David Wangutusi found Dfcu’s allegations against it’s customer to have been absolute fabrications. Findings revealed how, Dfcu completely filed total lies against its customer before the foreign Bank. Read on…
FIRST LIE: The judge found no evidence at all to prove that Dfcu had contacted Equity Bank and were advised that Patrick Makumbi was actually a ghost.
SECOND LIE: Dfcu, much as the bank claimed to have filed a complaint about it’s customer for presenting a ghost as an alternative buyer of the glass, they failed to produce evidence of the reference number of the case, the investigator involved, let alone the police station where the complaint had been filed.
The judge pointed out further, the fact that the customer wrote to Dfcu asking to be availed the reference number of the case, the investigator working on it, plus the police station itself, but the bank failed to do so, and this is proof enough that the allegation was merely a fabrication.
THIRD LIE: The judge noted therefore, by writing to the Australian bank referring to it’s customer as a fraudster without an iota of truth, Dfcu proved itself not only to be a consummate liar, but also a dangerous intriguer.
FOURTH LIE: By closing the customer’s account on account of having presented a ghost customer from Equity, the judge noted, Dfcu committed yet another offense.
The Verdict
Consequently, the judge directed Dfcu to pay a fine of UGX60m to the customer. Ten million shillings out of the compensation granted to the local customer, would serve as a deterrent factor for Dfcu and other financial institutions not to engage in gossiping and intriguing to the detriment of customers in the manner the local bank did. The final court award would carry a ten percent interest per annum calculated from January 17,2020.
Author Profile
- Mr. Stephen Kasozi Muwambi is a seasoned crime investigative writer, majoring in judicial-based stories. His two decades’ experience as a senior investigative journalist has made him one of the best to reckon on in Uganda. He can also be reached via [email protected]
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