This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
On Wednesday, former Youth Affairs Principal Secretary Lilian Mbogo-Omollo appeared in court, refuting allegations made by the Assets Recovery Agency that she does not own an agribusiness in Uyoma, Siaya County. The allegations were made on July 3, 2019.
According to court papers, Lilian stated that the allegations are 'plainly and maliciously untrue, mischievous and intended to misguide the court.' She suggested that the court could order a site visit to verify the production state and income-generating capacity of the agribusiness.
'The court itself also risks acting unjustly, unfairly, and capriciously and on mere assumptions should it proceed to make any order of forfeiture without endeavoring to conduct a site visit to ascertain for itself and among its own objective findings,' Lilian said in court papers.
The Assets Recovery Agency had filed an application seeking to transfer funds in Lilian's accounts to the government, dismissing claims that they are proceeds of her farming business. The agency termed the claim as 'incorrect, deceitful and a ploy to disguise and hide the source of the said funds', adding that it was a 'classical scheme of money laundering.'
However, Lilian argued that all the monies in the various bank accounts are legitimate and their sources accounted for. She further stated that the investigators' claims that most receipts produced by her fall outside 2016, 2017, and 2018 are irrelevant, as the funds in question were allegedly stolen from the National Youth Service (NYS) coffers during those years.
