•Former finance manager said he accumulated multi-million shilling properties over a 25-year career in the civil service.
•Judges rule that he had the chance to, but did not, satisfy the court how he obtained the funds.
Image: THE STAR
A former parastatal finance manager will pay Sh41.2 million to the government for failure to account for part of his wealth, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.
Stanley Mombo Amuti, who served at the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation as a finance manager, could not explain how he accumulated his considerable wealth between 1992 and 2008.
Appellate judges Philip Waki, Gatembu Kairu and Otieno Odek, found that Amuti’s contestation that the lower court erred in applying and interpreting Sections 26 and 55 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act had no merit.
“We also find the judge did not err in holding that the admitted funds received were part of the appellant's unexplained assets that should be paid over to the Kenyan government,” they said.
In the appeal, Amuti had said the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission failed to give him notice and state the period of inquiry when the suspected property was acquired.
He argued that at his position, he was able to acquire multi-million shilling properties given his over 25-year career in the civil service.
He said the EACC narrowed its period of investigations to 10 months from June 2008 when Sh140 million was sent to his accounts and Sh85 million was withdrawn.
The court heard that Amuti earned a net monthly salary of Sh180,000.
In 2010, EACC moved to court seeking orders to compel Amuti to pay the state Sh140 million being bank deposits he had accumulated through alleged fraudulent means and a further Sh32 million being the value of unexplained assets he held.
The anti-corruption agency claimed he had acquired the money in nine months but the court only established that he could not account for the funds in cash.
However, the court ruled that, “In the present case, I have considered the property acquired at or around the time Amuti was reasonably suspected of corruption or economic crime and whose value is disproportionate to his known source of income at or around that time, and for which I consider that there is no satisfactory explanation.
“I, therefore, declare that the foregoing sums of money to be unexplained assets and order that Amuti pays the government Sh41,208,000.”
The funds included Sh9.5 million allegedly advanced to Samuel Gitonga, Sh15.5 million as fee from a Sudanese, Sh10.9 million instalments paid by Evelyn Mwaka and Anthony Ng’ang’a Mwaura for alleged sale of property, Sh1 million said to be for a community project and Sh4.3 million seized from his home and office.
The judges also considered that Amuti had the opportunity to cross-examine EACC’s witnesses.
They noted that when Amuti took the witness stand on oath, he was given the opportunity to satisfy the judge that his assets were acquired otherwise and not as the result of corrupt conduct.
“In our re-evaluation of the evidence on record, we are satisfied that the appellant did not offer a satisfactory explanation as to the source of the admitted sum of Sh15.5 million from the alleged Sudanese national; the source of Sh1,000,000 allegedly for community electricity project; the source of Sh10.9 million and that of Sh9.5 million for sale of properties,” they ruled.
The court said based on their evaluation of the evidence on record and applicable law, “we affirm and uphold the judgment and decree of the learned judge dated November 23, 2017.”