Justice Mumbi Ngugi today dismissed an application by Anthony Ng’ang’a Mwaura who wanted his accounts unfrozen. According to the judge the businessman failed to demonstrate how his business was hurting. Eight accounts had been frozen with nine vehicles being confiscated.
The businessman, had been accused by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko of being a conduit to siphon money from City Hall. The directors of Hardi Enterprises Ltd and Toddy Civil Engineering Company, Mr Mwaura and Ms Rose Njeri, had argued that the freezing of the accounts was hurting operations of the companies. This was because he had projects with several counties and the national government that needed funding.
According to Justice Mumbi Ngugi, Mr. Mwaura had failed to demostrate how the orders will deprive them of the means to provide for their reasonable living expenses and cause undue hardship to them and how such hardship outweighs the risk that the property concerned may be destroyed, lost, damaged, concealed or transferred.
Mr Mwaura and Ms Rose Njeri, the directors of Hardi Enterprises Ltd and Toddy Civil Engineering Company had argued that the freezing of the accounts was hurting operations of the companies, because they were carrying out projects with several counties and the national government. Mr Mwaura argued had stated that they were facing difficulties in implementing the projects.
However, the Assets and Recovery Agency, maintained that the moneys were proceeds of crime as the companies made suspicious cash deposits and withdrawals, intra and inter-bank transfers within the same banks and others. In the details ARA stated that,
On November 22, 2018, the agency said Hardi received some Sh102,414,130 through its Equity Bank from City Hall and split the money into five branches of Sh5,156,118, Sh48,651,988, Sh26,154,700, Sh18,063,443 and Sh4,387,839. Some of the money were later transferred to Toddy Civil Engineering, while some were wired to Mr Sonko’s account.
The county government also disbursed Sh175.5 million to the now frozen Equity Bank “in eight suspicious split transactions between October 15 and November 22, 2018”,
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