Following a prolonged legal battle, an auctioneer, Mbusera Auctioneers, has revealed a list of items belonging to Consolidated Bank marked for seizure in a bid to recuperate over Sh5 million owed to nine former employees, who were terminated from their roles in 2018.
The auctioneer, acting under the directive of the Banking Insurance & Finance Union Kenya, detailed an extensive list of assets in a notice dated October 26.
These assets include reception desks, furniture such as coffee tables, office equipment like photocopying machines and printers, 50 executive office chairs, 100 computers, a gas cooker, and water dispensers among others.
These items were identified at one of the bank's branches and are intended for auction to recover a debt amounting to Sh4.5 million, owed to former cashiers and customer service personnel from the Koinange branch, who were dismissed on May 7, 2018 due to purported breaches of operational procedures.
The dismissals were related to the employees allegedly receiving cheque deposits and attributing them to an account under the name of Lavington Security Ltd, despite discrepancies with the account details in the bank’s system.
Read More
This account was purportedly involved in defrauding the bank of Sh180 million between 2009 and 2017.
Legal proceedings ensued, resulting in the Employment and Labour Relations court ruling on June 16 that the dismissals were unjust and unlawful.
The auctioneer stated in the notice that they were referring to the aforementioned issue and the warrant of attachment and sale entrusted to them.
They conveyed that they had visited the judgment debtor in question and conducted an inventory of their attachable assets, in addition to serving them with a proclamation, as indicated in the attached document.
The auctioneer informed that they would provide further updates following the expiration of the seven-day notice period. T
"We refer to the above matter and to the warrant of attachment and sale entrusted to us," the auctioneer's notice stated.
"We wish to advise you that we visited the above judgment debtor and we took an inventory of their attachable assets and served them with a proclamation as per the attached copy, we shall inform you more after the expiry of seven (7) days’ notice but in case they may decide to settle directly with you, kindly note there is our fees to be paid."
Subsequently, the auctioneer was granted permission by a deputy registrar of the court to execute the sale of these assets after a 15-day notice period.
The matter is set to return to court on November 27 for further deliberation.
The bank’s defence against the former employees' claims revolves around their inability to detect fraudulent activities over almost a decade, emphasizing the plausibility of such oversight.
In response to the situation, the lender has lodged an appeal against the court decision, prompting the union to counter-argue for its dismissal, claiming the appeal is an attempt to hinder the former employees from receiving the compensation entitled to them.
The union, in a bid to recover the dues owed, awaits developments following the expiry of the notice period specified by the auctioneer.
This action marks a critical chapter in a protracted legal battle that continues to unfold within the Kenyan financial landscape.
