A judge has ordered two people implicated in the National Youth Service scandal to forfeit Sh97 million to the state.
Anti-Corruption Court judge Mumbi Ngugi ordered Charity Wangui Gethi and Samwel Mdanyi Wachenje to hand over the money which is held in different accounts to the state.
Granting the order for forfeiture, the judge said: "In the present case I have found that the agency has established on a balance of probabilities that Sh87,000,000 in the 1st respondent’s account (Wangui) and Sh10,000,000 in 2nd respondents account (Wachenje) was part of funds fraudulently transferred from NYS and into Josephine Kabura Irungu’s entities’ accounts.”
The judge noted that Wangui proffered an explanation that does not satisfy the court that the agency’s contentions are wrong.
Her contention that the Sh15 million that she redeemed from Old Mutual to her Standard Chartered bank account on August 26, 2015 was the subject of the case is not borne out by evidence or judgment in that case, noted justice Ngugi.
Justice Ngugi’s decision arose out of an application filed by the Asset Recovery Agency claiming that the money was stolen from the NYS.
According to the agency, Wachenje is a beneficiary of Sh10 million held at Family Bank Kagwe branch which is allegedly part of the Sh791 million stolen from NYS.
Wangui is said to have been a beneficiary of Sh87 million.
The agency tabled before court findings of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations probe which established that payments of Sh791 million were made unlawfully to three business entities namely Form Home Builders, Roof and All Trading and Reinforced Concrete Technology all owned by Kabura.
The funds were subsequently transferred to different bank accounts belonging to Wangui and Wachenje.
On October 6, 2015, December 8, 2015 and December 15, 2015 the court had issued orders to investigate, search and seize accounts suspected to have received money stolen from NYS.
The orders were then served on banks and Sh97 million frozen.
The agency believes that the funds were transferred to the accounts of the two to conceal the source of funds and pleaded with the court to issue an order for forfeiture in the interest of justice.
Wangui's statement of account showed that on August 26, 2015 she redeemed Sh15 million from Old Mutual money market fund account and transferred it to her Standard Chartered Bank account in Ruaraka.
On September 23 the same year, she redeemed another Sh20 million from her Old Mutual money market fund account and transferred it to her account at Standard Chartered.
Wachenje had a lawyer on record but he did not file any response to the suit.
Wangui on her part denied the allegations and said most of the things the agency had said was based on hearsay which court should disregard.
She also said she has never been a beneficiary of any funds from NYS either directly or through a third party.
Further, she told the court, that she did not engage in any business with NYS or Kabura and her companies.
The money in her account, she said, were her own funds sourced and received from a different entity which does legitimate business.
She further noted that whether the alleged Sh791 million which was paid to Kabura was legitimate or not is a matter yet to be determined by court.
-edited by Sarah Kanyara