•The accused faced numerous offences including trafficking Nepalese girls to work at the his club as strip dancers.
•The court said the accused exploited the girls for his own benefit.
Image: FILE
A Mombasa businessman with British and Canadian citizenships has been jailed for 60 years for human trafficking.
Asif Amirali was found guilty of six counts including trafficking 12 Nepalese girls for exploitation at his club.
He was accused of promoting trafficking by using the aliens at his high-end club named Rangela Bar and Restaurant on Amkay Plaza in Nyali among other 10 charges.
Shanzu resident magistrate David Odhiambo said the prosecution had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused person.
He was found guilty of charges of trafficking persons, promoting human trafficking, interfering with travelling documents, being in possession of proceeds of crime, engaging in business without permits and unlawfully employing foreign nationals.
The magistrate said the circumstances and all evidence tendered by the prosecution proved that Amirali trafficked the girls to Kenya for exploitation.
“The accused facilitated the travels of the 12 girls, recruiting, transferring them from the airport using means of deception by sending one month salary in advance. He took advantage of the financial vulnerability for purpose of exploitation," he said.
The magistrate said it evident that the girls were at the mercy of the accused person as they worked the whole month with only one day off.
He said the victims' communication was also controlled and were only allowed to communicate using a housekeeper’s phone and were only allowed to communicate between 3pm and 6pm.
Odhiambo also noted that travelling history of the accused proved that he was indeed involved with recruiting the girls.
He further said the accused further restricted the victim’s movement by confiscating their passports the moment they landed in Kenya.
Evidence tendered by the prosecution also showed all the money collected by the 12 girls went straight to Amirali’s pocket and he had even set targets for them.
He said his travel patterns between June and July 2018 coincided with arrival of some of the victims and the accused failed to defend his travels.
Amirali was further convicted after the prosecution proved that he owned the Rangeela bar and restaurant where the girls used to dance, and further rented an apartment for the girls.
“Business permits, county licences and witnesses testimonies prove that he indeed owned the bar and had rented the apartment. This evidence regards to his proprietorship of the bar is more than circumstantial," he said.
Odhiambo said the girls went through an experience they may not wish to be part of ever again while search of greener pasture.
He said he hoped the girls will share their stories with other girls in the country so as to stop them from being victims.
The girls said they were contacted by the accused person while in Nepal and sent them money for their air tickets.
The accused further sent the girls a one month salary in advance.
They told the court that upon landing at the airport in Kenya, the accused picked them and took them to Zawadi apartments where they stayed.
Their daily routine was to be driven to Rangela bar everyday at 9pm where they would entertain guests up to around 5am.