The state has recovered Sh3 billion which is part of corruption proceeds from the National Youth Service, Youth Fund and Kenya Revenue Authority scams in the last two years.
Assets Recovery Agency director Muthoni Kimani said the assets include cars, houses and other properties that were acquired by money stolen from the public.
She said about Sh500 million has been recovered from the first NYS scandal where more than Sh800 million was stolen in 2015.
Another Sh2 billion has been repossessed from the second scam at the agency involving Sh2.5 billion that investigating agencies believe was lost through suspicious payments.
“We have recovered an apartment which we confirmed was acquired by money stolen from Youth Fund but we can say this was a clear case of money laundering because the value of the property does not match the money paid,” Kimani said.
The agency, Kimani said, has also frozen several bank accounts both locally and abroad after signing legal mutual assistance with several governments to recovered looted cash stashed in offshore accounts.
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Last year, the government signed LMA with the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Jersey to recover and return to Kenya stolen assets hidden abroad.
Kimani spoke at a conference on anti-money laundering and asset recovery workshop hosted by Conference of Western attorney Alliance in collaboration with the office of the Attorney General Kihara Kariuki.
“We do not wait for the criminal processes to be concluded. So long as we have received intelligence that property was acquired through illicit money, then we move in and cease it as the DCI deals with the criminal bit in court,” she said.
The government has intensified the war on graft in the last year. High profile individuals including Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mlwilu are facing corruption charges in court.
Speaking at the event, Nigeria's Cross River State Attorney General Joseph Abang said money laundering in Africa has been perpetuated by despotic leaders who steal from the public and hid the loot abroad.
“There are these countries that manufacture black gold, the crude oil, and sell to western countries and ensure the money remains there. They collaborate with these foreign countries to steal from the poor,” he said.
The trend, he said, has made it difficult for Africa to not only grow economically but also to fight terrorism that has continued to plague the continent.
Conference of Western Attorneys General board members Marcus Green said that there was a need to train and equip prosecutors and investigators in order to combat transnational crimes.
“Transnational crimes are bound together by money. In order to prevent these crimes, there is a need to trap and trace the money before criminals can hide it,” he said.
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