A wife of a top Kenya Revenue Authority official has once again suffered a major blow.
This is after high court dismissed her application to suspend execution of the judgment forfeiting shilling 19.6 million suspected to be proceeds of crime pending hearing of the appeal.
The court last year issued a judgement that the funds in the three accounts in equity bank Donhom that belongs to Pamela Aboo should be forfeited to the government and money transferred to Asset Recovery Agency.
According to government procedure the money cannot be forfeited direct and the ultimate beneficiary is ARA and not government.
While dismissing the application to stay the execution of the judgement, Justice Hedwig Ong’undi ruled that all the recovered proceeds are in the agency’s escrow account and several forfeitures have been made and businesswoman Pamela Aboo cannot be said to have no money without solid proof. The husband works at KRA Customs department.
“I find that the applicant (Pamela Aboo) has failed to discharge her burden of satisfying any substantial loss she will suffer, if stay of execution is not granted,” ruled Judge Ong’undi.
The judge noted that Aboo had a duty to demonstrate to the court that Assets Recovery Agency cannot refund the money in the event of a successful appeal.
Aboo had claimed that that the agency is not in position to refund the money if need be.
She argued that there was a fear if the money in her accounts is forfeited to the ARA ut may be difficult getting it if her appeal succeeds.
Aboo further alleged that if the money is forfeited to the government which funds ARA, the government may use the money to finance its 2018/2019 budget deficits of shilling 558.9 billion.
Senior Assistant state Counsel Mohammed Adow opposed the application saying Aboo did not disclose any imminent threat posed by the agency.
He told the court that there was no evidence to show that the ARA would not refund the money in the event of a successful appeal.
“There was equally no evidence to show that funds in the accounts would be used to support budgetary deficits,” said Adow.
EACC filed an affidavit supporting ARA application saying it had been clearly shown that the funds forming the subject matter case were found to have been acquired through corruption and opposed the granting of the stay orders.
He submitted that there was no proper case which court can grant stay orders and urged the court to dismiss it with cost.
The learned judge said ARA is a corporate established with clear mandate of identifying ,tracing , freezing and recovering proceeds of crime.
Last year Pamela Aboo suffered a double blow after the High court ordered the forfeiture of Sh 19.6 million suspected to be laundered funds stolen from coffers of the State.
In her 32 pages judgement, Justice Hedwig Ong’undi of the High court Anti-Corruption division said that the funds in three bank accounts in the name of Pamela Aboo held at Equity Bank Donholm Branch be forfeited to the state as they are proceeds of crime.
“The Sh 19,688,152 held in account Nos.0820165680743,0820167691973 and 082037205163 Equity Bank Donholm Branch Nairobi County in the name of the of Pamela Aboo are proceeds of crime”. ruled Ong’undi.
Forfeiture orders to issue in terms of all the funds held in said
“Forfeiture orders to issue in terms of all the funds held in said Accounts” added the judge.
The judge said the above funds shall be forfeited to the Government and transferred to the Assets Recovery Agency.
While making the orders the Judge observed that Aboo who is the wife to Alex Mukhwana Khisa an employee of KRA did not give any explanation of the source of the huge deposits into her accounts at the said bank accounts.
It is suspected that it was the said Mukhwana who was making the said deposits to his wife’s accounts.
The funds were forfeited following an application filed in court by Assets Recovery Agency through investigator Isaac Nakitare who sought the monies be forfeited on grounds that Aboo accounts had been used as a conduit for corrupt moneys that have not been lawfully acquired or proceeds of crime.
Aboo through her lawyer said there is no dispute that the cash deposits in her accounts involved huge sums of money from various quarters.
In her defence, Aboo claimed that she invested with one Samson Waweru.
She further claimed that she deals in cereals which she purchases from busia and sells in various markets. She also informed the court that transports her products by Motorbike.
She further said she does not deposit any cash in Busia and so carries it to Nairobi where she deposits it in bits.
She confirmed that she had never made any withdrawals save for a request to transfer Sh 2.1 million to a person who was selling her land and the request was declined by the Bank.
Assets Recovery Agency through senior assistant state counsel Mohammed Adow said that, Aboo accounts have been used as a conduit for corrupt moneys in other words moneys that have not been lawfully acquired or proceeds of crime.
In March , High court declined to issue an order to unfreeze bank account belonging to businesswoman, whose money is suspected to have been illegally obtained.
