Ruparelia seeks Shs889bn from dfcu and backers in London court
The claimants say the 2016 Crane Bank sale was tainted by an unvalued transaction and an alleged $27.5 million bribe.
Ugandan billionaire Sudhir Ruparelia and other former Crane Bank shareholders are seeking at least €200 million, about Shs889 billion, in damages from dfcu Bank and its backers in London's Commercial Court. The trial opened on 5 October 2026 and is expected to run for 12 to 16 weeks.
The claimants allege the Bank of Uganda's 2016 seizure of Crane Bank and the January 2017 transfer of its business to dfcu, for Shs200 billion, was part of an unlawful, corrupt scheme. They say the deal had no independent valuation and that an internal late-2016 email shows $27.5 million from a loan portfolio sale going to the central bank unrecorded. dfcu rejects all allegations, saying the money repaid emergency support.
The London case follows a string of Ruparelia victories against the Bank of Uganda in Ugandan courts. A 2019 parliamentary inquiry chaired by Abdu Katuntu criticised the central bank for breaking the law on several points, and a parallel dispute is now before Parliament.