- Maina ruled in favour of the commission to preserve the assets pending the hearing and determination of the forfeiture suit.
- The commission went to court following an investigation of allegations of unexplained wealth, unethical conduct, bribery and conflict of interest against a supply manager.
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The anti-graft agency has been granted orders by the High Court to freeze assets worth Sh216.3 million belonging to a manager at Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited.
Delivering her ruling on November 24, Lady Justice Esther Maina said the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission had established a prima facie- a legal claim in which the evidence ahead of a trial is so overwhelming that it is enough to prove the case.
Maina ruled in favour of the commission to preserve the assets pending the hearing and determination of the forfeiture suit.
The commission went to court following an investigation of allegations of unexplained wealth, unethical conduct, bribery and conflict of interest against a supply manager.
Investigations undertaken by EACC established that between January 2010 and March 2021 the man was reasonably suspected of engaging in corruption.
He is alleged to have acquired assets worth Sh278 million against his known total legitimate income of Sh40.2 million for the said period.
EACC claimed that investigations established that at the time of the acquisition of these assets, the suspect had received funds from individuals and institutions that had secured tenders with his employer (KETRACO).
In one instance, EACC said a company which had been awarded a tender by KETRACO deposited Sh3 million in two bank accounts belonging to the suspect.
“During the execution of search at his premises in Nairobi, Sh1,020,000 in cash was seized from his motor vehicle. The source of the said cash could not be reasonably ascertained,” the commission said.
The commission issued a notice to the suspect to explain the disproportion in his assets with his known legitimate source(s) of income.
“The commission received a response on May 17, 2022, which response was considered and after analysis, a cumulative asset of the value of Sh21,432,587 was found to have been satisfactorily explained leaving out an unexplained disproportion of Sh216,374,181,” EACC said.
Following his inability to explain the source of assets worth Kes. 216,374,181.94, the commission said it issued the suspect a demand notice on September 14 requiring the suspect to remit the unexplained assets to the agency for return to the public.
“He failed to comply with the demand to surrender the assets prompting the commission to institute recovery proceedings,” EACC said.
The commission on September 22, filed a suit at the High Court in Nairobi seeking forfeiture of several assets valued at Sh216,374,181 to the government for being proceeds of crime.