A High Court Judge has withdrawn from hearing a case in which a lawyer sued a bank for freezing his accounts after being linked to the Sh791 Million National Youth Service (NYS) scandal.
Justice Eric Ogolla on Monday disqualified himself from the suit by lawyer Patrick Ogola, who sued I&M Bank for freezing his accounts citing 'personal reasons'.
The lawyer who also represents businessman Ben Gethi, a suspect in the NYS scam, accused the bank of acting against the law since there was no court order necessitating the action.
The bank is said to have made the move when the lawyer initiated a transfer of Sh27 Million to Hong Kong, moments after being linked to the scandal according to a gazette notice.
In his defence, the lawyer said that the bank froze the accounts when he refused to exchange Sh26.9 Million in one of its branches after differing on exchange rates.
This came after officers from the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit (BFIU) revealed how beneficiaries of the NYS money channeled millions to different law firms, to purchase property on their behalf in a bid to avoid suspicion.
Read Also: How Lawyers Helped Steal Sh791 NYS Money
In October, a defendant in the controversial Tatu City case, filed an application to have the same judge disqualify himself from hearing a commercial case that he was meant to preside over.
The application claimed that the judge would not make a fair ruling alleging that a Sh50 Million bribe had been paid to influence the outcome.
However, the judge dismissed the application saying it was misconceived and designed to “intimidate, blackmail and have him out of the proceedings” without any merit.
