This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
On September 19, 2019, Pastor Chris Mwai Ngweti was charged in a Shanzu court with two accounts of conspiracy to defraud and obtain money through false pretences.
Ngweti allegedly posed as President Uhuru Kenyatta and convinced the Akasha family to part with Sh5.09 million in exchange for securing the return of Baktash Akasha and Ibrahim Akasha from prison in the US.
Baktash is serving 25 years in a US prison after a drug trafficking conviction, while Ibrahim is awaiting sentencing in October.
According to the charge sheet, the alleged offences were committed between October 9 and November 15, 2018.
The state claims that Ngweti and his accomplices forged State House, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and US Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA) documents and letterheads to convince the Akashas that they had been sanctioned by the state to secure the return of the two.
Ngweti denied the charges, claiming he was acting on behalf of the President.
Three other suspects are still at large.
