This archive report was first published on 18 September 2019.
On September 18, 2019, the High Court delivered a significant blow to the Director of Public Prosecution's (DPP) efforts to freeze the accounts of companies owned by billionaire businessman Humphrey Kariuki.
Justice Luka Kimaru declined to reverse orders that had previously allowed Kariuki access to his company accounts, despite the DPP's attempts to reinstate the freeze.
The DPP, represented by State Prosecutor Catherine Mwaniki, had sought to reinstate the freeze orders, arguing that a magistrate's court in Kiambu had lifted the orders irregularly.
However, lawyer Cecil Miller, representing Africa Spirits Limited, opposed the application, arguing that the DPP was seeking to reinstate the freeze orders through the back door.
As reported by a Kiambu court, the freezing order was irregular since the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) never sought such an order in the first place.
Senior Principal Magistrate Stella Atambo ruled that the order issued by the court only allowed the DCI to investigate the accounts but not to freeze it.
Mr. Miller argued that the orders freezing the company's nine accounts were unlawful and meant to cripple its operations after the DPP failed to link its directors to tax evasion claims.
The company accused the DPP of acting in bad faith and abusing the court process, arguing that the decision to file the application in Kiambu was to get a favourable magistrate to rule in their favour.
“The prayers sought did not include the preservation of bank accounts, yet the orders extracted included the preservation of bank accounts of persons not made parties to the application for a period of 90 days,” Mr. Miller argued.
Justice Kimaru gave the Kenya Revenue Authority time to file their submissions and scheduled the hearing on Tuesday next week.
