Tanzanian Association Oslo

Confirmed:

Jeetu Patel tops

BoT fraudsters list

-Owns no less than EIGHT of 13 companies paid 90bn/- using forged documents

THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

IT has now been officially confirmed that Dar es Salaam business tycoon Jeetu Patel owns at least eight of the 13 companies that were paid by the Bank of Tanzania over 90bn/- through the use of forged documents during 2005/06 alone.

Investigations by THISDAY have established that the prominent businessman, whose full name is Jayantkumar Chandubhai Patel, tops the list of external beneficiaries from the monumental fraud uncovered in the recently-concluded BoT special audit by international audit firm Ernst & Young.

According to our latest findings, the eight companies owned by Jeetu Patel, out of the list of 13 identified by auditors as having received a total of 90,359,078,804/- from the BoT’s external payment arrears (EPA) account using false and forged documents, are:

Navycut Tobacco (T) Limited, Ndovu Soaps Limited, Bina Resorts Limited, Bencon International Limited, Maltan Mining Company Limited, Bora Hotels & Apartments Limited, Venus Hotels Limited, and B.V. Holdings Limited.

The remaining five companies on the same BoT fraud list are Kagoda Agriculture Limited, VB & Associates Company Limited, Changanyikeni Residential Complex Ltd, Money Planners & Consultants, and Njake Hotel & Tours Limited.

Patel is a leading member of the local business community, with interests in various businesses including banking, real estate and import and export. He is also one of the major shareholders of the recently-opened Bank M (Tanzania) Limited.

According to the special audit report which has already prompted President Jakaya Kikwete to formally terminate the appointment of long-serving BoT governor Daudi Ballali, no less than 22 companies benefited directly from illegal payments in excess of 133bn/- from the EPA account during the 2005/06 financial year.

Out of those, 13 firms (including the eight owned by Jeetu Patel) were established by the audit findings to have been paid over 90bn/- through forged documents, while the other nine companies were paid more than 42bn/- from the same account without proper authentication documents.

Meanwhile, newly-appointed BoT Governor Prof. Benno Ndulu yesterday pledged to restore public confidence in the central bank.

Speaking to reporters in his office at the bank’s Twin Towers headquarters in Dar es Salaam, Prof. Ndulu said one of his main priorities will be to enhance transparency in all central bank operations.

’’I will ensure that the BoT becomes a more transparent institution, and root out all traces of corruption,’’ he said.

Ndulu also pledged to work closely with the media, describing it as society’s ’’voice of conscience.’’

’’I intend to hold regular news conferences, and I won’t hide anything from you. This will help members of the public to better understand the bank’s operations,’’ he told local journalists gathered in his office for an impromptu press conference.

The governor fielded some of the criticism on the escalating costs of the Twin Towers construction project, saying the building had state-of-the-art facilities that cost far more than widely thought.

’’The construction cost has become very expensive because of the sophisticated security equipment installed in the building. You can’t compare it with the PPF Towers, as some people have sought to do,’’ he said.

However, he could not immediately say exactly how much money has been thrown into the project so far itself an issue of much public debate and speculation.

Commenting on reports of nepotism in the employment of key staff at the BoT, he admitted that some sons and daughters of prominent politicians had been employed by the central bank.

He explained that an official investigation is currently underway into the matter, saying that all those suspected of being employed out of nepotism would undergo tests to verify their individual qualifications and suitability for the posts they hold.

’’This matter is still under investigation by relevant state organs,’’ he stated.

Well-placed sources say the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) has been investigating the nepotism allegations, and it is understood that several senior officers at the central bank have already been questioned over the matter.

They include the bank’s former director of administration and personnel, Amatus Liyumba, who was recently removed from his post in a management reshuffle carried out by the new governor.