- The warrants were issued against account assistant Eric Kibet and principal accountant Rose Wangui.
- Awino, Nangila, Ambrose and Bitengo were charged with false accounting.
Image: FAITH MATETE
Warrants of arrest have been issued against two Kenya Bureau of Standards officers as four others charged with conspiring to defraud the government of Sh12.7 million were released on Sh3 million bond each.
The warrants were issued against accountant assistant Eric Kibet and principal accountant Rose Wangui.
Those charged before senior principal magistrate Robinson Ondieki on Tuesday with conspiracy to defraud are principal quality assurance officer Florence Awino, principal market surveillance officer Catherine Nangila, regional accountant Daniel Ambrose and accountant Linet Bitengo. The four were arrested on Friday.
The court heard that between July 1, 2017, and October 31, 2018, at the Kebs offices in Kisumu, they jointly conspired to defraud the government of Sh12.7 million by depositing the money into operations account held at National Bank of Kenya instead of revenue accounts.
In the second account, Awino, Nangila, Ambrose and Bitengo were charged with false accounting by furnishing a false statement of money received.
On the third and fourth count, they were charged with stealing by servant and abuse of office, conspiracy to defeat justice by causing the disappearance of accounts documents, cheque register and cheque books.
They denied all the charges.
Prosecutor Sylvester Thuo further told the court to issue a warrant of arrest against three officials for failing to appear before the court. He said they were ordered through their official email addresses to attend court but chose not to.
He said they should not be released on bond.
Thuo also asked the court to order the accused not to visit their offices or communicate with the witnesses as most of them were junior employees who might be intimidated by the accused persons.
But defence lawyers Kevine Lugano and Richard Onsongo asked the court to release their clients on reasonable bond terms.
Lawyer Murioki Kanyiri, representing regional manager Jackline Njeri, said his client did not appear in court because she was sick and currently admitted to hospital.
“My client was arrested in Mombasa on Friday, transferred to Kisumu where she developed a fever and is now admitted,” he said and tabled medical documents in court.
However, the magistrate issued a warrant of arrest against Kibet and Wangui.
He released the suspects on Sh3 million bond each with alternative bail of Sh500,000.
Edited by Henry Makori