BY SAM ALFAN.
Asset Recovery Agency now wants Sh110 million seized from a businesswoman last year forfeited to the state after investigations revealed that they are proceeds of crime.
The agency wants Sh110 million belonging to Tebby Wambuku Kago forfeited to the state stating that the funds at Equity Bank, are part of money laundering scheme.
The money was frozen by the High Court last December, soon after it was wired by a Belgian identified as Merc De Mesel.
“There are reasonable grounds and evidence demonstrating that the funds held by the Respondent in the specified bank account are direct or indirect benefits, profits or proceeds of crime obtained from a complex money laundering scheme and are liable to be forfeited and there are reasonable grounds to be believe that the accounts are holding funds reasonably suspected to be Proceeds of crime or acquired from or are the profits or benefits of proceeds of crime and are used as conduits of money laundering”, Agency says.
ARA argue that it is in the interest of justice that the money be forfeited since Wambuku might illegitimately enjoy the economic advantage derived from the commission of crimes and acquisition of proceeds of crime or profits and benefits of crime.
“Court be pleased to issue an order that the above funds be forfeited to the State and transferred to the Assets Recovery Agency or do make any other ancillary orders it considers appropriate to facilitate the transfer of the property forfeited to the Government,” the agency said in the petition.
The agency says it received information in August last year into a suspected case of money laundering scheme and proceeds of crime.
The money was wired to two bank accounts of Wambuku in US Dollars and Kenya Shillings mainly from foreign jurisdiction and whose source has no legitimate explanation.
ARA said Wambuku is suspected to be part of a syndicate involved in a complex money laundering scheme involving her and foreigners and her bank accounts are used as a conduit of money laundering.
Investigations by the agency established that Wambuku executed a complex scheme of money laundering designed to conceal and disguise the nature, source and movement of the illicit funds.
Its investigator- Inspector Fredrick Musyoki says an analysis of the bank statement for Wambuku’s account held at Equity Bank Ltd has established that the bank account was opened on February 22, 2021.
The account later received a cumulative sum of USD 909,900 in two days, in four structured suspicious transactions in August 2021.
The woman allegedly said when opening the accounts that she was self-employed but the transaction in the account does not reveal or depict the business she owned, apart from what she received from the Belgian.
Further investigations have established that she opened the accounts for the sole purpose of receiving the funds which the sender indicated as “gift”.
