A suspected extortion ring is under police investigation for using forged court filings to threaten a Ksh14 billion payout by Co-operative Bank to farmers and Sacco shareholders.
The ring is accused of filing petitions to stall the bank's restructuring into a non-operating holding company named Co-opbank Group PLC, announced by CEO Dr Gideon Muriuki on April 21. A politician allegedly approached the bank on behalf of cooperatives and sent demand letters and draft suits, followed by invitations for private talks interpreted as attempts to extract payment for withdrawing the cases.
Police are examining claims that signatures of genuine Sacco officials were forged without authority. The restructuring, pending approvals from the Central Bank of Kenya and Capital Markets Authority, would create Co-opbank Group PLC as the listed parent and a new subsidiary called Co-Op Bank Kenya Ltd for local operations.
Bank insiders say the filings aim to frustrate the process after the payout plans became public.
