Former Kenya Pipeline Company managing director Shem Ochuodho has suffered a setback in a Sh827 million graft case after a magistrate allowed a witness to table bank statements.
Ochuodho and his co-accused had opposed the use of the documents as evidence, saying they would be prejudicial to them.
But in a brief ruling, anti-corruption magistrate Douglas Ogoti said the contested documents meet the threshold of the Evidence Act. He said no evidence should be left out.
Witness David Mwisaka is a legal advisor from Standard Chartered Bank. When he appeared in court in November 2019, he said they had a data retention policy and original documents could only be retained for several years then destroyed.
Mwisaka was using copies that were challenged by the defence team. He sought time to be allowed to go to their historical records to confirm if the bank had the documents.
In this case, former KPC chairman Maurice Dantas, Ochuodho and two directors of a debt-refinancing company—John Gichia Macharia and Terry Wijenje of Triple A Capital Ltd—are accused of conspiracy to defraud KPC of Sh827 million. They are out on Sh2 million bail each.
Triple A Capital allegedly entered into a refinancing arrangement that required KPC to pay them the Sh827 million and, in turn, the firm would service the corporation's international debts.