Hardly three days after, the Investigator has landed on a case, where the Country`s Judicial Boss, Hon Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo is grappling with an application requiring him to reverse his recent ruling in the matter against the person of Sudhir Ruparelia and his trading Company, Meera Investments Limited (MIL).  

For starters, and in ordinally means, it’s about a case which Sudhir had, way back in 2020, filed against Bank of Uganda, challenging them on a technicality, arguing that Crane Bank in Receivership could not sue and or be sued. Bank of Uganda retaliated by filing an appeal against the same. Understandably (at least in reference to our intro above), BoU lost the case at High Court, Court of Appeal but continued up to the Supreme Court.  

However, at some point, the BoU legal brains took a drastic change of mind in a manner that got many shocked, but in equal measures, sent Sudhir and his fans into world class celebrations. On 16^th September 2021, the media was awash by sponsored stories of how BoU had the previous day, 15^th September 2021, withdrawn their appeal with costs to the tycoon. Many missed the tactical move by BoU and joined the celebrations. 

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo, surprisingly slipped into bed with Sudhir and entertained his application challenging the withdrawal he had himself embraced and jubilated to. In his application, he prayed that Court instead rejects the withdrawal and dismiss BoU Appeal with costs instead.

Indeed, and maybe surprising to those in less knowledge of our intro of this report, Hon. Justice Owiny-Dollo and his team on October 4^th 2021 entertained Sudhir`s prayers and issued a ruling against the already extracted and hence inexistent BoU Appeal, dismissing it with costs.

Their regrettable stance left no option for BoU legal minds BUT to labor and take the learned Justices onto a sojourn for a refresher `course` of the law. In regard to Sudhir`s prayer to have the withdrawal rejected, BoU lawyers of J.B Byamugisha reminded the Registrar of the Supreme Court on how a withdrawal can`t be challenged by anyone save for the appellant of the same. 

Challenging and calling for stoppage of their hitherto hours-away ruling, Byamugisha Advocates wrote on October 4^th 2021 thus; “On 15^th September 2021, the appellant, in Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 7 of 2020, Crane Bank Limited [In Receivership] V Sudhir Ruparelia and Meera Investments Limited, lodged a notice of withdrawal of that appeal under Rule 90(1) of the Judicature Directions. The notice of withdrawal was signed and sealed by the Court on the same day.”  

In a bid to save the Justices from passing a laughable ruling, the Advocates further labored; “The dismissal is by operation of law. Accordingly, under that Rule, the appeal stands dismissed with costs unless the court, on application of the appellant, otherwise orders. The appellant hasn`t made such application and indeed Court only has jurisdiction to entertain an application on the issue of costs.”

The fact that BoU lawyers toiled further to explain the inaccuracies of how the appeal had never been called for hearing at all, and that it had been fixed for mention on November 9^th 2021 but then brought forward to September 30^th 2021 after its withdrawal by the appellant BoU and dismissal by operation of law, did not in any way attract the attention of the obviously Sudhir Ruparelia fans at the Highest Court of the Land. 

Sounds interesting? Now read this and get to know how it was a do-or-die job for the honorable Justices; “The notice of intended mention for 30^th September 2021 was served on the appellant on 29^th September 2021 after the demise of the appellant`s lead Counsel Dr. Joseph Byamugisha (a legendary respectable Court Official – Ed), on 28^th September 2021. Moreover, it was by letter from the Deputy Registrar”! 

Nevertheless, the Chief Justice-led team proceeded to deliver their ruling in a style legal mind termed `functus officio`, a legal doctrine which holds that once an arbitrator renders a decision regarding the issues submitted before them, they lack the power to reexamine the same decision. It is in these very pages where we reported how BoU` stance of withdrawing the Appeal was a tactical move.

And indeed, an application by Crane Bank Limited [in Receivership], Crane Bank Limited [in Liquidation] and Bank of Uganda have since been filed before the same Kololo premised Supreme Court, with prayers to have the ruling rescinded. The grounds onto which the Application is placed are so strong, debatably placing Hon. Justice Owiny-Dollo between a rock and hard surface and oh yes, in a tongue in cheek situation. 

The fourteen-page Application, whose details will be reproduced in the follow-up story in these pages, is supported by the affidavit from none other than Margaret K. Kasule, the Legal Counsel of Bank of Uganda which is the statutory liquidator of Crane Bank Limited [In Liquidation]. Watch this space…         

According to the forensic report whose particulars are wrapped in a 153-page booklet, and the same we shall serialize, the businessman did not only stop at paying peanuts for the otherwise prime Crane Bank buildings, but he made sure the wealthy landlord he had thus effectively turned into a tenant, paid cripplingly in terms of lease and ground rent as well!

To ensure that Crane Bank as an entity never ever, in future get back the buildings, Sudhir commanded, but of course fraudulently, his sidekicks working with the financial institution to have the land holding the properties converted from leasehold into freehold!

What the above means is that Sudhir obtained both the buildings and the land holding them on permanent basis as opposed to being a tenant of the same. If the reverse was true, he was supposed going forward, to pay lease fees to the landlord which was supposed to be Crane Bank Limited itself.

Seeing that the bank factually belonged to Sudhir himself, never mind the propaganda to the contrary, even an imbecile can easily figure out the awkward situation the financial institution faced while negotiating the evidently impugned deal for the simple fact that it wasn’t naturally expected to disagree with the terms set by its proprietor.

This is why regardless of the location, size or development of the buildings at stake, Sudhir, who was clearly the seller and the buyer at the same time, given his dominant position as the owner of the bank whose properties he desperately sought to convert, ended paying a flat fee of UGX100m for each and every building!

To demonstrate possibly the upper hand Sudhir boasted of in these matters, the seller was not permitted to value the properties before selling them out. Consequently, the bank lost the opportunity to place the true prices on each of the properties Sudhir ended up purchasing.

 What happened, the shrewd businessman merely conjured up figures from his bald head and then threw the prices he desired to buy the plots at! And as we all know, the bank wasn’t expected to raise a finger against its owner!

“From our interviews with senior management, the consideration for the sale of the bank’s land was not informed by an independent valuation of the land,” the forensic report has it.

Dismissing the UGX100m purchase for as pitiable, the report adds, “It is highly unusual that the bank would accept such a flat fee for each of the property sold to Meera Investments Limited (MIL) because at the time it had parcels of land worth more than this amount.”

The above line justifies our contention about the existence of an invisible hand which was actively manipulating the sale and purchase behind the scenes. That invisible hand we know was Sudhir Ruparelia the man himself. Well, to simplify the kind of profiteering Sudhir committed in these transactions, let’s quote the money the bank paid for some of the plots of land as per the bank’s Fixed Assets Register.

We go: Plot No.93 Block 7, Mengo, Kibuga Ndeeba was bought at UGX1Bn. Plot No.1 Ishaka Fort Portal Road, Cell Ward 4 was bought at 715m, Plot 55 Main Street Jinja (Ush700m), Plot22 Kampala Road Entebbe (Ush650m) Plot No88 Block18, Kibuga Nateete (Ush650m) and Plot No18, Jinja Road, Mukono (Ush619).

But, when Sudhir chose to ‘buy’ the plots, the shameless rascal paid a mere UGX100m for each of them! Since Crane Bank spent 4,334,136,000 on purchasing these plots, simple arithmetic would show the cad ended up paying a mere Ush600m for all the plots combined! And for this reason, the businessman robbed his own bank by a whopping UGX3, 734,136,000!

Yet for just two years Sudhir was the landlord, Crane Bank not only forked out a colossal USD4.6m in rent, but the apparently cowed financial institution was also made to pay twice in respect of Plot40A Kampala road. The bank paid two payments of USD237, 364.08 apiece to Meera Investments Limited (MIL) and Crane Management Services, as per an invoice recovered by the investigators. The two companies belongs to Sudhir.

But even more scandalous, the fact that Crane bank used a combined total of Ush29.8Bn to purchase the land as well as to erect the buildings Sudhir purchased as captured in its books of December 31^st 2012, it would unmistakably imply that Sudhir cheated the bank by a whopping UGX26.4Bn when he chose to purchase the properties in the manner he chose to.

Don’t drop dead yet, Sudhir not only cheated Crane Bank as we have ably illustrated above, but also went ahead and grabbed all its furniture and fittings worth a whopping UGX13.6Bn! As everyone would know, after procuring all the dirty work he procured, Sudhir now commanded his workers at Crane Bank to hide the same from the prying eyes of the Central Bank.

He instructed his workers not to reflect the losses on its books. He did so because he was understandably aware that what he had just carried out was not only criminal, but also actionable at law.

Factor in the fact that the businessman even intimidated Crane Bank into meeting all the costs that goes with transactions of this nature, including one converting it from a landlord into a tenant, to see how callous this honorary Doctor of the banana republic can be. Watch this space…  

Draughtsman Peter Kamya has dragged the top bankers to the criminal court accusing them of lawlessly hawking his properties to Sudhir.  The two properties are Simbamannyo building and Afrique Suites Hotel. Simbamannyo is a high-end storied complex positioned behind the Kampala central police station and just opposite the high court building. Afrique Hotel is a 3-star hotel nestled away in Mutungo.

Kamya contends that the two suspects sold his properties in the midst of a lawsuit he had launched challenging the legitimacy of the loans Equity supposedly auctioned the assets for. Furthermore, he argues, the auction was concluded seven days before the due date and after money had changed hands between Sudhir and them.

“For their unethical acts and omissions of the said Samuel Kirubi and Anthony Kituuka, they are not fit and proper persons to be in the management of the Bank or any other Financial Institution in accordance with the 3^rd schedule of the Financial Institutions Act, 2004,” Kamya filed last night.

Following the filing of the criminal charges, the duo have been duly summoned by court to appear for plea-taking. They are obligated to appear at the City Hall magistrates’ court on October 5^th 2021, as per court summons we have since exclusively got hold of.

Whereas your attendance is necessary in  court to answer charges of breach of duty of the mortgagee exercising power of sale contrary to Sections 27 and 39 (3) of the Mortgage Act of 2009, frauds on sale contrary to Section 310 of the Penal Code Act ( CAP 120), conspiracy to defeat justice contrary to Section 103 of the Penal Code Act ( CAP 120) and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor contrary to Section 392 of the Penal Code Act (CAP 120), you are hereby commanded by the Government of Uganda to appear in this court on the 5^th day of October 2021 at 10.00am or soon thereafter as the case can be heard,” reads the summons dated September 13.

The bone of contention is that whereas Equity bank advertised the auction to take place on October 8^th 2020, Sudhir started paying for the properties on October 1^st 2020. He wired a total of one million United States dollars to the lawyers of the bank known as Katende, Ssempebwa and company advocates.

“The said advance sale of the complainant’s properties was fraudulent and illegal as it was done contrary to the bank’s powers of sale as a mortgagee as provided under the Mortgage Act No.8/2009,” the aggrieved draughtsman submits.

Kamya says the fraudulent sale was conducted with the knowledge and approval of the MD and the Credit manager and that the advance sale amounted to a fraud because it falsified and misrepresented with a criminal motive, Equity’s alleged authority to sell or concealed facts material to its authority to sell.

Sudhir had contacted the lawyers for Equity to ask if the properties were available and the lawyers assured him the bank was going to sell them to no other person or entity apart from him. After giving a corporate guarantee in writing to the effect, Sudhir wired the deposit above to the lawyers in question and later cleared the balance of four million United States dollars.

But Kamya says what Sudhir paid for Simbamannyo was peanuts and that if Equity had carried out a comprehensive valuation of the property, they wouldn’t have sold the property so cheaply. Much as the bank says a company known as Luwaluwa Investments Limited is the one which bought the Hotel, Kamya contends that Sudhir bribed its director one Ronald Luwangula to disguise as the buyer of the hotel yet it was him who actually bought the recreation facility.

The fact that Luwangula is a Supreme Court Clerk, Kamya submits that there is no way he could have afforded to find a whopping USD4.3m, and merely in a matter of days, which he alleges to have paid to acquire the hotel. 

Kamya says the two top Equity officials intentionally caused the rush and illegal sale of the properties so as to obstruct or interfere with the complainant’s right to pursue its claim of illegality of the loans against the bank.