- The investment manager Moturi was also found guilty on the charge of conspiracy to defraud which attracts a penalty of three years imprisonment.
- Magistrate Mugambi, in convicting the five, said they failed to follow up on what was being paid for.
Image: FILE
Former NSSF investment manager Francis Moturi is staring at a jail term of not less than 10 years after he was convicted of graft.
A Nairobi anti-corruption magistrate on Friday found Moturi guilty of knowingly misleading the fund into making payments totalling to Sh1.4 billion through irregular trading in shares through Discount Securities Limited.
Anti-corruption chief magistrate Lawrence Mugambi convicted Moturi on the charge of deceivin principal.
Moturi was the head of the user department that was purchasing the shares.
He raised a total of 41 memos to the managing trustee of the NSSF fund containing misleading statements to the effect that the fund stockbrokers, Discount Securities Limited, purchased various quantities of shares of Kenya Commercial Banks, Barclays Bank of Kenya, Standard Chartered Bank, Bamburi Portland Cement Company Limited, Kengen and Nation Media Group at the Nairobi Stock Exchange on behalf of NSSF.
This made NSSF to commit to making payments totalling to Sh 1.4 billion to DSL yet no shares had been purchased on behalf of the NSSF by DSL.
Moturi was also found guilty on the charge of conspiracy to defraud which attracts a penalty of three years imprisonment.
He faced this count together with Githaiga David, Wilfred Weru, Isaac Nyakundi and DSL.
The charge indicated that they conspired to defraud the NSSF Sh1.2 billion by purporting to have purchased various quantities of shares of KCB, Barclays bank of Kenya, Standard chartered bank, Bamburi Portland cement, Kengen and Nation Media Group at the Nairobi stock exchange on behalf of the NSSF while no shares had been purchased in respect to this amount.
Magistrate Mugambi, in convicting the five, said they failed to follow up on what was being paid for. He said it was not coincidental but a well-orchestrated fraud.
He added that there was misleading information sent to NSSF under the hands of the accused persons.
“Although accused were not directors of DSL, they held managerial positions that resulted to the loss of funds. Their actions were calculated. They aided the fraudulent acquisition of 1.2 billion shares,” the court said.
This means NSSF paid for shares that were unprocured.
Mugambi said Moturi, as the investment manager, had a role to verify. He should have checked the transaction numbers.
At the same time, the court acquitted former internal audit manager Mary Ndirangu and former finance manager James Akoya.
Those convicted will be remanded at Capital Hill police station pending sentencing on Monday.
(edited by Amol Awuor)