According to reports appearing in local press, the Standard Chartered bank, the lender opted to pay Sh100 million in exchange for a two-month reprieve from the prosecution of its executives in connection with the theft of funds at the National Youth Service (NYS).
The bank through its London-based parent company, Standard Chartered Plc, disclosed that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had not taken further action against it or its managers for not reporting suspicious transactions involving the NYS under anti-money laundering laws.
Apparently, this was made public to American regulators
Details of the secret agreement with the State prosecutor were first disclosed in 2020 by its London-based parent company, Standard Chartered Plc, via the London Stock Exchange (LSE) where the multinational lender is listed.
Firms are required to make filings with the powerful SEC if their securities are publicly traded in America, raised funds in the US or have shareholders required to file corporate actions with regulators in Washington.
The 2020 deal with the DPP that has now been further confirmed means StanChart’s total penalties in the wake of the NYS scandal was Sh177.5 million after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) fined it Sh77.5 million for regulatory breaches that involved laundering billions for the NYS scammers. A small price to pay? Hehe…
The banking regulator said that the banks had failed to report large transactions and to undertake proper due diligence on customers. It also accused them of approving large transactions without proper documents.
“Under the terms of SCBK’s settlement, the DPP agreed to defer prosecution against both SCBK and any persons affiliated with SCBK and the DPP imposed a penalty of Sh100 million ($964,000) on SCBK.”
It all seems the social media users smell a rat in the whole deal
Alas! https://t.co/hhYsirbPXH
— Pep (@pepswagi) March 25, 2022
Who was paid. Gives us the link to the article https://t.co/JTskHr4X2T
— KINYAFRIC (@Kimaniih) March 25, 2022