Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua is again facing money laundering allegations after it emerged that he played a man in a ksh 123 Million deal. -By John Mutiso.
Gachagua had promised to help the man fund his project which was to supply of theatre, ICU and maternity equipment to Bungoma county.
In documents filed in court, the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) says Gachagua promised to help Jim Carter Njagi, a young director and shareholder of Encartar Diagnostics Limited.
ARA investigator Fredrick Musyoki said in the course of his probe, he recorded Njagi’s statement. It said that in the 2014-15 financial year, he applied for a tender to supply theatre, ICU and maternity equipment to five health facilities to the Bungoma county government through his Encartar company.
His bank account was at Rafiki Microfinance. He won the tender at a cost price of Sh123 million but had no money to fund the project. He was later introduced to Gachagua by his friend Raphael Nguma. He asked Gachagua to assist him with funding.
“I agreed with Rigathi that he was to introduce me to Rafiki Microfinance where I was to be granted a bank loan of Sh32 million LPO financing using his fixed deposit as a security, meaning I was not giving anything.”
Njagi later opened an account with the bank under his company name and applied for a bank loan of Sh32 million and Rigathi’s fixed deposit as a security of the loan.
Gachagua then directed that for him to stand surety to the bank of Sh32 million, he had to have his own secretary introduced to his company account at Rafiki. That meant taking the bank loan as a mandatory signatory with a mandate for both to sign, meaning he could not transact the account without her.
This was done, and the company performed the work and the county government of Bungoma paid Njagi’s bank in phases, totalling Sh123 million. But when he went to withdraw from the bank, he realised he had no money in the account.
“I went to the secretary of Rigathi, one Juliana Khamunyi, who told me she was instructed by Rigathi to withdraw the money and pay a supplier in Beijing Sh32 million and the transporter Sh6.5 million and others a total Sh5 million.”
On further enquiries from the secretary, Njagi says he discovered that the money was paid to a fixed deposit of Gachagua and also in his personal account. “Gachagua took all the payment of Sh123 million I was paid from Bungoma county,” he says.
ARA wants the court to declare that the funds held in the banks of the MP at Rafiki MicroFinance bank are proceeds of crime and the same should be forfeited to the government.
