One hundred and thirteen accounts held in 13 banks have been frozen as detectives zero in the NYS multibillion-shilling scandal.
One of the many accounts affected is that of Anne Ngirita, Lucy Ngirita and Phyllis Ngirita.
The Ngiritas are among the suspects charged with corruption at the NYS in which Sh468 million has been illegally paid out.
Anne’s account is at Unitas Sacco Microfinance Bank while the other two Ngiritas have accounts with KCB.
The magistrate issued the freeze order which will be in place for six months.
The magistrate interestingly did not write his or her full name on the order and instead opted to append a signature.
The magistrate gave police officer Fredrick Musyoki orders to scrutinise account opening documents, statements of account since their inception to date, cheques, cash deposits and RTGS transfers covering the period.
“Whereas it has been proved to me on oath that for purposes of an investigation into commission of offence of money laundering and tracing of proceeds of crime, an order of production be and is hereby issued to inspect the books....,” the order by the magistrate read.
The order arose out of an application by the asset recovery agency which was supported by an affidavit sworn by Musyoki.
Musyoki said he needed the court’s permission to look into the accounts to enable him ascertain if money laundering had been
committed.
recovery of funds
According to court documents, the agency got information on April 26 that funds had been stolen from NYS through collusion of staff and suppliers.
It is alleged the suppliers were paid through their accounts held in several banks for services that were never rendered and goods not delivered.
And as a result, the court was told the funds held in those accounts are proceeds of crime liable for recovery by agency.
Consequently, the agency opened an inquiry file and it now wants to be furnished with documents relating to the more than 100 accounts.
The agency believes if orders it is seeking are not granted, there is a high likelihood the funds in the accounts might be withdrawn, which in turn will frustrate the ongoing investigations for recovery of public money.
It also assured the court the orders sought if granted will not in anyway prejudice the suspects and will allow fair administration of justice and the rule of law.
The banks where the accounts are held include Barclays bank, Equity, KCB, Cooperative bank, Diamond trust, Guaranty trust bank, Eco bank, Family bank, National bank, NIC bank, Unitas sacco microfinance bank, Credit bank, CFC Stanbic bank, Consolidated bank, HFC bank and I&M bank.
At DTB, accounts include Millachi Africa Ltd, Ajaa Olubayi & Co, Zeighan enterprises, Jelly Merchants, Phoenix Capital Ltd, Clinique investment limited, Jackline Mutsotso and Advance quick fix.
Siblings in the Ngirita family who are part of the 43 suspects implicated in the NYS scandal have claimed they were framed by an officer investigating the case.
All suspects have been denied bail and remanded on several counts ranging from conspiracy to commit economic crimes, willful failure to comply with procurement rules and abuse of office leading to the loss of Sh468 million.
Four members of the Ngirita family - Jeremiah Ngirita, Anne, Phylis and their mother Lucy – have been accused of defrauding the NYS in excess of Sh100 million.