This archive report was first published on 27 December 2021.
On December 27, 2021, the High Court issued a preservation order freezing two bank accounts at Equity bank belonging to Jane Wangui Kago, totaling more than Sh260 million.
The accounts held Sh 3,11,800 and Euros 355,990.13 (equivalent Sh 45,566,720), which were wired to Kago by Merc De Messel, a Belgian man suspected of being part of a money laundering scheme.
Justice Grace Nzioka prohibited Kago from withdrawing the money, pending the determination of a case filed by Assets Recovery Agency, citing an imminent risk that the funds may be withdrawn, transferred, or dispatched if the preservation orders are not granted.
The agency suspects that Kago is part of a syndicate involved in a complex money laundering scheme, and preliminary investigations established that she executed a complex scheme of money laundering designed to conceal, disguise the nature, source, deposition, and movement of illicit funds.
According to court documents, the Agency received information into a suspected case of complex money laundering schemes, and proceeds of crime involving multiple money transactions from foreign jurisdiction whose source could not legitimately be established involving Wangui.
