Africa-Press – Uganda. Dfcu Bank has secured a crucial procedural victory in its protracted legal dispute with Crane Bank Limited (CBL) and associated parties before the English High Court, marking a significant turn in the complex case stemming from the Bank of Uganda’s controversial takeover of Crane Bank in 2017.
The case dates back to October 2016, when the Bank of Uganda placed Crane Bank under statutory management, citing “significant undercapitalisation and unsafe banking practices.”
In January 2017, BoU transferred selected assets and liabilities of Crane Bank to dfcu Bank under a purchase-and-assumption agreement—an action that triggered a string of lawsuits from former Crane Bank shareholders, notably businessman Sudhir Ruparelia, who challenged the legality of the takeover and the subsequent sale.
In the latest development, Justice Paul Stanley rejected an application by Crane Bank’s legal team to exclude forensic audit reports prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd (PwC) from the proceedings.
The reports were commissioned by the Bank of Uganda to assess Crane Bank’s financial condition.
Lawyers for Crane Bank argued that PwC Uganda, which conducted the audit, was not part of the globally recognized PwC network and that the reports were inadmissible to establish primary facts in the case.
However, Justice Stanley disagreed, ruling that the reports remain part of the case record.
The PwC audits—spanning over 150 pages and covering financial activities dating back to the early 2000s—contain what the judge described as “serious” findings.
These include:
The creation of a deliberately false impression on the bank’s balance sheet.
Concealment of true shareholder identities.
Improper diversion of bank funds.
Preferential insider transactions described as “sweetheart deals.”
“These findings, if accurate, point to management practices inconsistent with what any sensible regulator would wish to see operating a strategically important bank,” Justice Stanley noted in his ruling.
In a related order, the Court instructed Sudhir Ruparelia to surrender his mobile phone for expert forensic examination to identify potentially relevant documents.
His daughter, Sheena Ruparelia, was also ordered to disclose materials from her personal email account for scrutiny.
dfcu Bank welcomed the ruling and reiterated its position that the claims brought against it are baseless.
In a statement, the bank said it “remains committed to defending itself vigorously and to upholding international standards of ethical conduct and governance.”
The case is part of a long-running legal saga with cross-border dimensions, involving regulatory oversight, allegations of insider abuse, and contested ownership claims.
The English High Court’s latest decision may influence how key pieces of evidence are weighed in the eventual resolution of the case.
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