Turkish businessman Harun Aydin, who is a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto, did not get a Ksh15 billion loan from Equity bank as alleged.
Appearing before the National Assembly Finance Committee on Wednesday, Equity bank’s managing director Gerald Warui said that the allegations by Ruto were false since the bank did not have any banking relations with the Turk.
“He does not operate and does not have a banking relationship neither does he have a loan with us,” Warui said.
Initially, Ruto claimed that he made a phone call to Equity Bank to facilitate the loan for Mr Aydin to set up a vaccine manufacturing plant in Uganda.
Warui said that he was not aware of such a phone call made by Ruto, who was barred from traveling to Uganda with the Turk and other Kenyan politicians and businessmen.
“We find it very difficult to establish he made those remarks,” added Warui.
Harun and the rest of the delegation that included MPs Sudi, Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Benjamin Tayari (Kinango) were allowed to travel while Ruto was blocked by immigration officials over ‘clearance issues’.
Others in the entourage were Mombasa-based businessman David Lang’at, Elijah Rono and Eric Ruto.
During his arrest on August 7 after landing from Uganda, Aydin was in the company of a Ugandan businessman, Paul Bamutaze, who was also arrested and later deported to Kampala by road.
Aydin was deported on August 9, after being linked to terror financing and money laundering.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874. You can also find us on Telegram through www.t.me/kahawatungu