Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji yesterday claimed that Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), which was allegedly used as a cash conduit by the planners and financiers the DusitD2 hotel attack last month, has been trying to influence him to drop case against its staffer.
He told a parliamentary committee the bank was key player in terror activities— and specifically the January 15 attack, which claimed 21 lives, saying it facilitated the withdrawal of Sh30 million which was wired to Jilib town in Somalia, the headquarters of the al Shabaab militia.I
Haji said although the destination of the cash withdrawn from the bank was clear and failed to raise the red flag on the large transaction, the institution has been trying to have the case dropped.
“They have been running around all this time trying to influence us so as not to charge them,” he told the MPs, adding that apart from Somali such monies related to terrorism activities are also sent to Syria to support the outlawed ISIS group.
Appearing before the Justice and Legal Affairs committee (JLAC) chaired by William Cheptumo, Haji said the bank failed to report to Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the suspicious transaction after an individual withdrew the Sh30 million in a week yet on normal occasions he was withdrawing a maximum of Sh400,000.
The DPP said suspicious transactions which took place at one of the bank’s branches in Eastleigh was not reported to CBK despite banks being issued with guidelines asking them to be cautious on transactions made especially in high risk areas.
The transactions were carried out on diverse dates between December 4 and January 5, this year.