The 11 Million Document Mountain: Inside Week Two of the Crane Bank v. Dfcu London Commercial Court Trial

The trial in under High Court of Justice in London (Commercial Division), scheduled for a multi-week/16-week trial window running through late 2026, with Claimants of Crane Bank Limited and former shareholders (led by Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia) seeking hundreds of millions in damages and the defendants are Dfcu Bank, Dfcu Limited, directors, and international investment partners.

on the discovery Scale so far 11 million documents have been collected by the parties, with over 250,000 documents reviewed for relevance and over 17,000 documents formally produced by the Defendants during disclosure.

Claimants argue that the Bank of Uganda’s (BoU) 2016 statutory management and subsequent transfer of Crane Bank's assets to Dfcu in January 2017 were part of an unlawful, corrupt scheme executed at a gross undervalue.

Claimants contend that Dfcu stepped in after an initial arrangement with CEFC China Energy fell through, acquiring assets under questionable red flags, including a purported Shs100bn hidden arrangement and a disputed bidding timeline.

Claimants challenge the validity and licensing of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) forensic reports commissioned by the BoU.

 Defendants maintain that the massive document trail contains zero proof of conspiracy, bribery, or dishonesty involving Dfcu, highlighting that the BoU acted independently due to severe undercapitalization, negative core capital (-Shs16.10bn by July 2016), weak credit controls, and a massive bank run in October 2016.

 Expert testimony (AVQ and KPMG) asserts that Crane Bank’s economic value was negative at the time of the transfer, rendering the transaction a rescue/assumption of liabilities rather than a profitable windfall while defendants are invoking the foreign act of state doctrine, arguing that an English court cannot legally adjudicate the executive and statutory actions of Uganda's central bank performed inside Uganda.

Up to 19 defense witnesses—including individual directors and global PwC network representatives—are set to take the stand and expert Evidence continuing with  submissions covering central bank regulations, financial valuation metrics, and Ugandan statutory law.