Uhuru-era suspects accused of corruption and misappropriation of public funds, now have all the reasons to throw a party after the Assets Recovery Agency releases their Sh15 billion back.
Kenya flagged more than Sh15 billion in three years leading up to the August election, which was later frozen by the High Court on suspicion of being proceeds of crime and money laundering.
The companies whose billions of shillings were frozen were mostly start-ups incorporated elsewhere with connections in Kenya and Nigeria, and they had wired millions of shillings from West Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
According to the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), shell companies were also formed in Kenya to take advantage of the country’s liberal financial system in order to launder funds from foreign jurisdictions.
Flutterwave Ltd, Elivalat Fintech Ltd, Hupesi Solutions, Boxtrip Travels and Tours Ltd, Bagtrip Travels Ltd, KiwiPay, KoraPay Technologies, and Cruz Ride Auto Ltd were among the companies whose funds were frozen.
As the owners of the companies fought the allegations, the agency followed the freeze with applications to forfeit the billions to the government.
Following the August 9 elections, the agency filed applications to withdraw petitions seeking seizure of the funds.
Three Nigerian companies, Avalon Offshore Logistics Limited, OIT Africa Limited, and RemX Capital Limited, were the first to receive their money back. They were at the center of an international money laundering syndicate and faced losing Sh5.7 billion to the State as proceeds of crime.
Kandon Technologies Ltd also received its Sh15 million, which had been frozen due to fraud allegations.
The Nigerian firms explained that the billions of shillings belonged to Nigerians and Kenyans who had sent money to family members.
OIT Africa Ltd had the most money, with Sh4.8 billion in two bank accounts, one at Equity and one at UBA. Avalon Offshore Logistics had Sh43.5 million in two Equity accounts while RemX Capital had Sh765 million in one UBA account.
