This archive report was first published on 28 December 2019.
On December 28, 2019, a High Court judge made a ruling that rejected an application by a businessman seeking the release of Sh2 billion in alleged fake US dollars seized at Barclays Bank in Nairobi.
The businessman, Mr Eric Otieno Adede, is the prime suspect in a criminal case of conspiring to defraud a businessman, Mr Muriithi Materi Mbuthia, of Sh20 million.
Mr Adede had accused the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) of illegally holding the money that forms part of the criminal case. He claimed the safe box at the bank where the cash was stored contained genuine US dollars, as supported by the signed inventory.
However, the DCI stated that a report from the DPP's documents examiner and a United States Secret Service Investigative specialist found the US dollars to be counterfeit.
Justice John Mativo ruled that there was no evidence to suggest the DPP or DCI acted carelessly, maliciously, or abused their powers. He stated that Mr Adede had not demonstrated that there was no factual basis to justify the seizure of the exhibits.
The judge further observed that it was not the function of the judicial review to weigh the veracity or the evidence or to assess which exhibits were relevant to the prosecution case.
Consequently, the judge ruled that Mr Adede failed to establish any grounds for the court to grant the judicial review orders.
