The High Court has granted the government permission to seize a Ksh102 million love gift wired to Felista Nyamathira Njoroge, a 23-year-old student, by her overseas billionaire boyfriend.
The Kenyan government was allowed to keep the money held in two Cooperative Bank accounts belonging to Nyamathira after Esther Maina ruled that the gift came from a money laundering network.
The judge ordered the forfeiture of the funds since the source of the money had not been explained and disclosed by billionaire Marc De Mesel, a Belgian YouTube crypto personality.
In a landmark judgment, Justice Maina said the philanthropist was given an opportunity to explain how he earns his money which he dishes to young women all over the world at will but he failed to do so.
Justice Maina said in the absence of an explanation, the state benefits from the money secretly wired into the country from the overseas crypto personality.
While allowing the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) application to have the funds declared proceeds of crime, Maina stated that the evidence tendered in court by both the state and the two lover birds revealed there was obvious money laundering.
“I analyzed and went through the evidence tendered by the boyfriend and it did not show the source of funds that were wired to the Kenya woman friend,” ruled Justice Maina.
