Credit Bank has moved to court seeking to recover Sh72 million from former Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria and a company linked to him for loans advanced to them about seven years ago.
The lender says in court documents that Smith & Gold Productions Ltd borrowed loans in 2019 to finance a project at Bomet University College but has since refused to repay the loan despite several reminders.
Credit Bank has named Mr Kuria and Aloise Kinyanjui, who are directors of Smith & Gold Productions Limited, alongside Emerging Capital Holdings, as respondents in the case.
“The Defendants' breach of the credit agreements and guarantees constitutes a debt recoverable,” Credit Bank said.
According to court documents, Credit Bank first advanced Smith & Gold Productions Ltd a Sh10 million loan facility in September 2019 at an annual interest rate of 13 percent, repayable within 120 days.
The lender says the company accepted the offer, drew down the funds and used them to discount certificates from Bomet University College.
The bank claims the facility was secured through personal guarantees issued by the directors, a corporate guarantee and an irrevocable undertaking by the university college to channel payments through the lender.
After the first facility was reportedly repaid, Credit Bank says it extended a second Sh20 million loan in December 2019 for similar projects linked to the institution.
However, the lender alleges that the second facility later fell into arrears, prompting a restructuring in December 2022 into a Sh40.9 million term loan repayable over five years through monthly instalments of Sh932,486.
The lender says it subsequently issued another letter of offer restructuring the outstanding debt after the company defaulted on repayments.
According to the bank, the restructuring package included fresh guarantees and a proposed Sh5 million bullet payment expected from proceeds arising from the construction of Karatu Stadium.
Credit Bank further argues that repeated demands to regularise the account went unanswered, causing the debt to balloon through contractual and penal interest from Sh59.7 million in May 2024 to Sh72.1 million by September 2025.
The bank is now seeking orders declaring the defendants jointly and severally liable for the debt, alongside interest at 13 percent per annum, costs of the suit and any other relief the court may deem appropriate.
“The 2nd (Mr Kuria), 3rd, and 4th Defendants are jointly and severally liable under the guarantees and indemnities, which are continuing securities covering all sums due from the 1st Defendant (Smith & Gold), including interest, penalties, and costs,” the lender said in court documents.
But in a defence filed before the Milimani Commercial and Tax Division, Mr Kuria and his co-defendants challenged the lender’s claims and urged the court to dismiss the suit with costs.
The defendants described the case as “fatal, inept, incompetent and ambiguous,” arguing that it fails to disclose sufficient material particulars required by law. They denied allegations contained in the plaint and demanded strict proof of the alleged loan facilities and agreements.
The firm further denied entering into any agreement with the bank, insisting there was “never any agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant as claimed.”
They also disputed the nature of the money advanced, arguing that if any funds were issued, they constituted a grant rather than a recoverable loan facility.
Mr Kuria and the company additionally denied signing the guarantees or restructuring agreements relied on by the bank, describing the documents as forged.
“The defendants aver that they are strangers to the allegations … and aver that they have never signed any agreement or entered into any such arrangement with the plaintiff or its directors, and that the documents relied on are a forgery,” Smith & Gold stated in its defence.
