Court of Appeal upholds forfeiture order, ruling betting firm failed to explain suspicious transactions through shell company
The Court of Appeal has delivered a crushing blow to betting giant MozzartBet Kenya Limited, dismissing the company’s bid to reclaim Sh256 million that the court has declared as proceeds of crime, while directly implicating the firm’s directors in a sophisticated money laundering scheme.
In a landmark 37-page judgment delivered in May 2025, appellate judges Francis Toiyott, Fred Ochieng, and Aggrey Muchelule ruled that there was sufficient evidence to link MozzartBet’s directors to questionable financial transactions that bore the hallmarks of money laundering operations.
The Shell Company Connection
The case centers around MozzartBet’s relationship with Kimaco Connections Limited, a company that investigators determined was little more than a shell entity designed to obscure the true destination of millions of shillings. Between February and August 2020, MozzartBet transferred over Sh640 million to Kimaco under the guise of purchasing betting software solutions.
However, the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) investigations revealed a more sinister picture. Kimaco, owned by Peter Kiilu Makau and Consolata Mwende Kiilu, had filed nil tax returns with the Kenya Revenue Authority during the period in question, indicating it conducted no legitimate business activities despite receiving hundreds of millions of shillings.
“The evidence revealed that Kimaco received payment under suspicious circumstances, made out payments in similar circumstances and concealed its business from the Tax authority,” the appellate judges noted in their ruling. “Is it not said that ‘if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck’?”
Directors in the Crosshairs
The court’s findings have placed several MozzartBet directors under intense scrutiny. The judgment specifically names Loncar Koviljke (Serbian national), Emmanuel Charumbira (Zimbabwean national), and Musa Cherutich Sirma (Kenyan national) as the company’s directors at the time of the suspicious transactions.
Most damaging to MozzartBet’s case was evidence showing that funds paid to Kimaco eventually found their way back to the betting company’s directors through a complex web of transactions. The court noted that Branimir Melentijevic, a shareholder of MozzartBet Africa (the majority shareholder of the Kenyan entity), received funds that had initially been paid by Kimaco to another entity, Pescom Kenya.
“There was evidence that some funds initially paid by Kimaco to Pescom Kenya made its way to Melentijevic,” the judges stated, adding that payments totaling USD 69,964.30 and USD 34,599.00 were made allegedly for software business purposes.
The Circular Money Trail
ARA’s investigations uncovered what prosecutors described as a classic money laundering operation. State counsel Githinji told the court that once MozzartBet transferred funds to Kimaco, Peter Makau, who was a signatory on Kimaco’s accounts, authorized transfers to Pescom Kenya, where he was the sole signatory.
From Pescom’s NCBA bank account, the funds were then distributed to individuals associated with MozzartBet, including directors Emmanuel Charumbira, Musa Cherutich Sirma, and Melentijevic Branimir.
“The funds were further transferred from Pescom’s bank account to individuals associated to Mozzartbet as directors,” the court heard, painting a picture of a circular scheme designed to return laundered money to its original beneficiaries.
Failed Defense Strategies
MozzartBet’s legal team, led by lawyer Patrick Lutta representing Kimaco Connections, argued that the disputed funds originated from legitimate betting business activities. They claimed that DCI investigations had established that MozzartBet generated Sh17,057,136,032 from bet sales, giving the company a “clean bill of health.”
The defense also argued that Kimaco had furnished evidence of a contract dated February 20, 2020, with MozzartBet for software system solutions, but that delivery was frustrated by ARA’s preservation orders against Kimaco.
However, the appellate judges found these arguments unconvincing, particularly given the High Court’s earlier finding that Kimaco lacked the financial capacity and technical expertise to undertake the alleged software contract.
Regulatory Failures and Red Flags
The case has highlighted significant regulatory oversight failures. Despite handling hundreds of millions of shillings, Kimaco had no registered business address, no identifiable employees with software development expertise, and filed nil returns with tax authorities throughout the period it allegedly provided services worth over half a billion shillings.
The court noted that Kimaco’s payment to KRA upon demand “did not legitimize money whose source was illicit,” effectively ruling that attempting to regularize tax affairs after being caught could not retroactively legitimize criminal proceeds.
Broader Implications for the Betting Industry
This ruling represents one of the most significant victories for Kenya’s anti-money laundering efforts in the betting sector. The case follows similar investigations into other major betting operators and signals increased regulatory scrutiny of the industry’s financial practices.
The Asset Recovery Agency has demonstrated its capacity to trace complex money laundering schemes and successfully argue for forfeiture of criminal proceeds, even when they involve major corporations with substantial legal resources.
Looking Forward
With the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of MozzartBet’s appeal, the Sh256 million remains permanently forfeited to the state unless the company successfully challenges the decision at the Supreme Court level. The ruling also raises questions about the immigration status of the foreign directors implicated in the scheme, with previous reports suggesting possible deportation proceedings.
The case serves as a stark warning to betting companies and other businesses that Kenyan courts will not hesitate to pierce corporate veils when evidence suggests criminal activity, regardless of the amounts involved or the prominence of the entities concerned.
For MozzartBet, once among Kenya’s leading betting platforms, the ruling represents not just a significant financial loss but a damaging blow to its reputation that could have lasting implications for its operations in the country’s competitive betting market.
The Asset Recovery Agency’s success in this case also demonstrates the effectiveness of Kenya’s anti-money laundering framework and sends a clear message that the country will not serve as a safe haven for illicit financial activities, regardless of their sophistication or the corporate structures used to conceal them.
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