Metropolitan Sacco members lose More Than Sh. 15 billion

More than 100,000Metropolitan Sacco members have lost more that Ksh. 15 in the latest fraud investigation by the DCI that is going on.

According to the Sacco’s interim chair, this has been caused by the former management that reportedly failed to account for the expenditure and the whereabouts of the members’ savings.

The Saccos interim board has now called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to fasten the investigations into the misappropriation of funds raised by the Metropolitan Sacco members.

“If the loan book was reported to be Sh. 17 billion and now we have Sh. 1 billion, it means the money that we are operating with today, the money with which we are giving services today is current money,” the board told Sacco members on August 15, 2024.

“We are not refusing the responsibility that the Sacco owes members this huge figure. But we have to make the right decision for posterity.”

The Metropolitan Sacco has faced challenges following an investigation initiated by the Commissioner of Co-operatives through Gazette Notice No. 4558 in April 2022. The inquiry uncovered serious issues, including fake dividend payments, improper lending practices, and falsification of financial records.

In one instance, it was alleged that the interest income reported over 24 years, from 1987 to 2021, amounted to Sh. 16.2 billion. However, the actual cumulative income for the same period was estimated at Sh. 6.8 billion, revealing a discrepancy of Sh. 9.4 billion.

The false dividends were paid using the savings of Metropolitan Sacco members. In one suspicious transaction, the Sacco’s premier loan facility was overstated by more than Sh. 7 billion, likely due to loans given to non-existent members.

Additionally, the Sacco’s management could not account for why the cumulative assets were reported as Sh. 28 billion, while external auditors had determined they were closer to Sh. 14 billion.