BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
A Nairobi Court has allowed police to continual detaining four suspects arrested with alleged fake Sh 2 billion dollars at Barclays Bank Queens Way branch for five days to enable them complete the probe in the matter.
This is after investigating officers in the case corporal Daniel Ptaalam filed an application seeking to detain four suspects namely former Ragwe constituency aspirant Erick Adede, Ahmed Shah, Irene Wairimu Kimani and Elizabeth Muthoni for 10 days to conclude investigations.
While making their application before Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate Zainabu Abdul, the police said the investigations in the matter is still on going and they need more time to complete the same.
The court heard that Police need more time to establish from the document examiner the authenticity of the paper intended to resemble and pass as currency notes in dollas that was recovered from the said bank.
According the the officers the investigating team further wants to confirm from the Barclays Bank Queen way branch whether the respondents holds an account with them.
Police also said that they want to confirm whether the respondents deposited in a personal safe custody various items at the same bank.
They also want to establish from the bank the normal procedure of deposing personal safe boxes in their safe rooms.
The investigation officer further wants to probe if the suspects have other accomplices who are still at large and the suspects are to assist in the arrest of the said suspects.
The court heard that the police has received several complaints of cases of being in possession of papers intended to resemble and pass as currency notes and that are yet to contact the complainants of the reported case in order to conduct a identification parade.
Ptaalam informed the court that the suspects were arrested on March 19,2019 and booked at Kileleshwa police station before they were arraigned in court.
The court heard that the police needed to confirm whether the US dollars 20.9 million nabbed on Tuesday was real or fake and Central Bank is to be involved.
Further the court heard that the police also confiscated what appears to be gold and which needed verification.
Defence lawyers led Sam Nyaberi said they were not opposed to the application but the court should release them on bail and direct them to be appearing before the police.
He said there was nothing to show that they were a flight risk or had interfered with investigations.
Lawyer Nyaberi further told the court that the police accompanied each of the suspects to their home where they conducted search hence they know where each of them lives.
He also said Adede is a well known person, having contested the Rangwe parliamentary seat in 2017.
The case will be mentioned on March 26 for further directions.
