High Court has frozen three accounts associated with a senior employee at the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) for alleged money laundering schemes.
Margaret Wanja Muthui, who is the authority’s deputy director in charge of supply chain management is barred from withdrawing over Sh.93.5 million held at three different bank accounts in the country.
Justice James Wakiaga issued orders freezing a total of Sh93.4 million in three accounts – one belongs to Njunge and the other two are for Muthui and Lighthouse Trading Company.
“An order of preservation is hereby granted barring Light House Trading Company from selling, transferring or dealing in any manner with 2 properties in Ruaka, a house at Collingham Gardens in Nairobi and the land in Riruta,” the court ordered.
Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) says Muthui used Esther Wagio Njunge, Lighthouse Trading Company, Grace Ndiritu, Mercy Nyambura and Cynthia Nyambura who are her accomplices.
Eight out of the eleven apartment blocks are registered under Light House Trading Company, with the remaining three bearing the names of Mercy, Cynthia and Grace.
The 11 apartment blocks are located in Nairobi’s Signature Apartments in Kileleshwa.
Further, the court has prohibited them from collecting any rental income from the property in question instead the rent should be deposited in the ARA account pending hearing and determination of the intended forfeiture case.
Justice Wakiaga has also ordered the Chief Land Registrar to register caveats against each of the apartments and properties stated in the case.
They have also been directed to surrender to ARA the original land titles documents, leases or registration documents for all the contested properties within the next seven days.
A probe into the scheme revealed that the KeRRA deputy director made the purchases of the 11 apartments within 3 months in 2019, in what investigators say was a scheme to hide illegally obtained money.
Investigations established that she paid Sh264,500,000 in cash for the eleven apartments and were registered in her accomplice’s names in a scheme to conceal ownership.
Those listed as beneficiaries and owner of the properties have been given a seven day deadline to surrender original land titles, leases or registration documents on the said properties.