IT SCANDAL HITS CIC INSURANCE - CEO TO RETIRE

CIC Insurance may have lost up to Sh150million from corrupt practices by managers particularly the IT department. An audit carried out on various IT equipment purchases revealed a kickback scheme in which the Group IT head, a Mr. Kitur and others received kickbacks on inflated supply contracts costing the firm millions of shillings.

Eight senior managers and three other "sacrificial" lambs have been shown the door in the scandal.

The Board has also signaled to Group CEO Nelson Kuria that it is time to retire paving the way for deputy CEO Tom Gitogo to take over by next month.

CIC is the third largest insurance company in Kenya by premiums commanding a 9% market share just behind leaders Jubilee (11.9%) and Britam (11.2%).

ICEA Lion and UAP Group make up the top five.

Further audit in other projects is likely to see these losses rise to Sh300million insiders with information say.

Particularly blatant was the kickbacks that companies associated with some of the IT managers where the same day a transfer of funds to a supplier was made, another transfer would be made from that supplier's account to accounts associated with CIC managers.

IT equipment was grossly inflated in prices the forensic audit revealed. Real Time Gross Transfers 

of amounts such as Sh4million would be made to an account one of the managers had opened with his brother.

Three individuals bore most of the criminal responsibility while the others were either tangentially involved or should have stopped the corrupt practices.

More projects are to be audited at the firm which is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.