There is a simmering bitter fallout in the giant Equity Bank Group as Polycarp Igathe who acts as the Chief Commercial Officer feuds with his boss and Group Managing Director and CEO James Mwangi, we can authoratively reveal.
Already, Kenyan media is awash with stories of high value customer accounts being frozen by the Asset Recovery Agency over money laundering suspicions.
According to our source, Igathe deliberately leaked information on these accounts to regulatory authorities outside official channels, without due board authorisation and without any verification of the source of the funds.
So serious is the Igathe and Mwangi feuding that sources at the Equity Bank headquarters reliably informed this writer that the Igathe is no longer on talking terms with several senior board members, after he angrily vowed to “bring down” Equity Bank to its knees.
The bank is currently ranked as the largest financial services conglomerate in sub-sahara Africa with assets exceeding US$10.1 billion in 2021.
The Equity Board is concerned about negative press coming st a time it is expanding in the lucrative francophone Congolese markets.
According to a source at the bank, Igathe leaked the details of numerous high value a counts including hundreds of pages consisting of customer bank statements and internal company documents. An internal investigation by Equity revealed unauthorized access to customer accounts and duplication of their statements.
From the leaks made to CBK,ARA and DCI, it is obvious Igathe was seriously intent on damaging the reputation of his employer by revealing the that firm was aware these accounts were violating banking regulations.
It has also been revealed that Igathe’s war with Mwangi stems from the CEO’s refusal to accept Igathe resignation and further declining to fund his campaigns since he intended return to politics as a candidate for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat.
As we went to press, it was not clear if Igathe had resigned or if he was still on course to run for Nairobi Governor.
