Meru Senator Mithika Linturi is to be charged with 37 counts over an alleged fraudulent loan he took from Family Bank in 2019.
The charges include giving false information to a person in public service, obtaining credit by false pretences and impersonation.
Others are abuse of office, fraudulent procuring of the registration of charge of documents, forgery and intent to defraud.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i told lawmakers probing the arrest of the senator on April 28 that the charges were criminal in nature.
“Honourable chair, the above 37 counts are all criminal charges investigated and approved for prosecution and are not civil at all,” he said on Friday.
Matiang'i said the charges stem from a complaint by Emily Nkirote on November 1, 2018 that some fraudsters had forged Atticon Ltd board of directors minutes dated on April 28, 2017 and removed them and appointed their replacement.
Nkirote told DCI she is a director of Atticon with Linturi holding 50 and 1,050 shares respectively. She called for police investigations.
According to the CS on November 15, 2018, Collins Ngetich, a director of Barons Estates reported to the DCI that in June 2018, he discovered that the directors of Atticon had fraudulently applied for renewal of an overdraft facility of Sh100 million and other dealings without his consent.
After performing a search at the Companies Registry, he discovered that Barons Estates was removed from the shareholding of Atticon.
“Since the two complaints revolved around the same personalities and entities, they were consolidated and an inquiry file No I48/2019 was opened,” he said.
The investigations were conducted and all persons of interest were interviewed. Some 26 statements were recorded and documents collected. Police suspected 33 documents to be fraudulent and subjected them to a forensic examination.
At the close of investigations, the file was submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on June 17, 2019 with recommendations and findings.
On the June 17, 2020 the Office of Director of Public Prosecution returned the file and called for further investigations on various issues.
The file was resubmitted to the ODPP having covered all the areas that they had raised in October 2020.
The ODPP returned the file on November 16, 2020 for further investigations. On January 28, detectives returned the file having complied with the directives.
According to the CS, the ODPP returned the file on February 9, with consent to prosecute Linturi and Nkirote.
On April 28, police led by head of Serious Crimes Unit Obadiah Kuriah went for Linturi at his Muthaiga home.
They wanted to serve him with a requisition to compel him to attend to interrogation sessions ahead of his arraignment.
Linturi called his colleagues at the Senate who were then discussing the Building Bridges Initiative Bill, saying he was being arrested over the proceedings in the House.
This forced the sessions to be suspended as the Speaker sought to know the reasons for his arrest. He was later set free but asked to report the following day.
Linturi had in March moved to court to stop the DPP from charging him and his co-director Nkirote.
They said that their intended prosecution is unlawful as it relates to the family and property dispute between Linturi and his estranged wife Maryanne Kitany.
Kitany lodged a complaint with the DCI two years ago accusing Linturi and Nkirote who were also directors of Atticon Ltd of fraud in taking a loan using fake papers.
Linturi asked in vain the court to grant them anticipatory bail pending their arrest and prosecution.
(edited by o. owino)
