On Tuesday, November 20, 2018, the State suffered a setback in its effort to recover assets tied to the National Youth Service scandal after a court declined to take away a luxury vehicle owned by Charity Wangui Gethi, the mother of accused suspect Ben Gethi.
Justice Hedwig Ong’udi found that the Assets Recovery Agency had not shown a sufficient link between the Sh7.3 million Jeep Cherokee and money said to have been stolen from NYS. The vehicle, a black 2014 model, was therefore not shown to be proceeds of crime.
Ms Gethi told the court that she bought the car before funds suspected to have been looted from NYS were deposited into her accounts. She also relied on Article 40 of the Constitution, arguing that she had a right to own property and that the case against her was built on suspicion rather than evidence.
The judge said the burden remained on the agency to prove its allegations. In her view, even if some of the money received by Ms Gethi raised questions, ARA had not demonstrated that it came from the NYS theft.
The agency had gone to court in 2016, saying it was investigating the loss of Sh791,385,000 from NYS and had established that the vehicle was bought using part of the stolen money. It had already secured preservation orders while pursuing forfeiture of the car to the government.
Ms Gethi complained that the vehicle had been left at The Cid yard since January and was deteriorating because it was not being maintained. She argued that the continued seizure was unfair while the case remained unproven.
The court also heard that Ms Gethi was not alleged to have been a direct beneficiary of the NYS scam. According to the agency’s case, the money was first received by Josephine Kabura, who is also facing charges over the loss of the Sh791 million.
ARA alleged that Ms Kabura received Sh273 million from NYS and transferred it to John Kago Ndung’u. The agency further claimed that Sh108 million went to a company called Good luck, owned by Mr Ndung’u, while another Sh103 million was deposited into the account of Ogolla and Company advocates, who allegedly transferred Sh28 million to Ms Gethi’s accounts.
Justice Ong’udi concluded that the evidence did not connect the money allegedly received by Ms Gethi to the purchase of the motor vehicle. She also noted that one of the companies she owns had not been linked to the scandal.
“It is clear to me that whatever she may have received was not part of the money used to purchase the motor vehicle,” the judge said.
