Kenya Insights

Tag: money laundering

  • Petition Seek To Stop Money Laundering Through Betting Firms

    Petition Seek To Stop Money Laundering Through Betting Firms

    Banks are pushing for changes to the law that will compel betting firms to report suspicious deposits and withdrawals from gaming accounts in the latest plan against money laundering.

    Industry lobby Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) said betting sites offer convenient platforms to clean dirty money prompting the push to compel gaming firms to report suspicious bets to the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC).

    KBA petitioned Parliament to amend the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and compel industry regulator Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) to monitor suspicious bets and transactions totalling at least Sh1 million ($10,000) and above.

    The push targets punters dealing in large transactions, those putting money in their betting wallets and staking a small fraction of it as well as those making small, regular and suspicious bets.

    Betting firms are not currently required by law to report the suspicious transactions to FRC—which is mandated to track illicit cash— making it a convenient avenue for cleaning dirty cash.

    “Inclusion of Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) since some individuals can use betting as an avenue for money laundering,” the lobby said in its petition.

    The petition is contained in the review of the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that is currently before Parliament for debate.

    The committee’s decision on the proposal remains unclear with the Bill set for debate and passage into law before February.

    Chief executive officers of betting firms have in the past said that criminals can feed their illicit money into their betting wallets, bet a small share of the cash before cashing out with vast majority of the cash.

    A number of accounts have been frozen over the past two years as the government steps up the war on money laundering.

    The push comes two years since BCLB made it compulsory for betting firms to report transactions above Sh1 million ($10,000) or suspicious bets to the regulator.

    BCLB included the reporting obligations for betting firms in their annual licences granted from July 2019 amid increased concerns that betting firms are emerging as a vehicle to launder proceeds of crime and corruption.

    The State has since 2019 stepped up the war on betting sites amid the growing concerns that the multi-billion industry is being used to launder money.

    FRC last year opened investigations into SportPesa for possible money laundering in the wake of claims the sports betting firm wired $278 million (Sh30 billion) from its local accounts to offshore banks.

    Other betting firms have been flagged for possible money laundering for sending millions of shilling into the gaming accounts of punters.

    The betting industry has grown over the years to hit a combined revenue base of over Sh200 billion, offering a perfect market for criminals seeking to launder dirty money.

    Betting is in a list of other transactions targeted in the war on money laundering including selling of property; creation, operation and management of companies, management of bank, savings and shares accounts on behalf of clients.

    The Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill, 2021 also targets to designate advocates, notaries and other independent legal professionals as reporting entities for dirty cash dealings.

    The renewed bid comes ahead of the second assessment of Kenya for compliance with international anti-money laundering rules this year after the first one in 2010 found deficiencies in curbing illicit cash transactions.

  • Report Reveals How South Sudan Warlords Are Using Kenya To Launder Illicit Cash

    Report Reveals How South Sudan Warlords Are Using Kenya To Launder Illicit Cash

    The Kenya Illicit Finance Risks and Assessment report describes how politicians in South Sudan bought luxury real estate in Kenya, set up joint ventures with Kenyan partners, and used local banks to transfer money from one country to another.

    It was compiled by The Sentry, a US investigative and political organization that pursues dirty money in connection with African war criminals and transnational war profiteers and aims to exclude them from the international financial system.

    The report says that warlords in South Sudan fueled the conflict in their country and accumulated wealth in Nairobi.

    In one case, the family of a South Sudanese general who paid $ 1.5 million in cash for his involvement in mass violence against civilians for property in Nairobi.

    The property is listed under the name of one of his wives.

    Million dollars

    “The Sentry has Thu Received documents showing millions of dollars are questionable Payments linked to senior South Sudanese officials have been processed through Kenyan banks, “the report said.

    “In one case, bought one South Sudanese Politically Exposed Person (PEP) a luxury home with a US dollar account. in the Ugandan branch of the Kenyan bank. It happened during a period of intense fighting involving a non-state militia funded and supported by the PEP office. ”

    In September, an anti-corruption court in Nairobi overturned a lock order on two bank accounts, one of them Denominated in dollars, belongs to South Sudan’s Cabinet Minister Elia Lomuro. They were frozen in June on allegations of money laundering and incitement to violence.

    The decision came after the Assets Recovery Authority (ARA) informed the court that it was satisfied with the minister’s statement that the money from his salary and rental income.

    The accounts contained $ 13.42 million and ARA had attempted to confiscate them.

    A supporting affidavit from an ARA investigator showed that the dollar account received $ 351,317.81 credit, of which $ 351,293.52 was withdrawn between September 2017 and January 2020.

    “On December 24, 2019, the respondent instructed the bank to close his dollar account and transfer the money to his local account. ” affidavit was added.

    Sentry said he had identified property owned by a senior military official linked to violent land grabbing, ethnic conflict and corruption scandals. The group also cites another official who bought a luxury house in Nairobi that was not worth its modest salary.

    The report also notes that members of several senior South Sudanese government officials live in a certain area upscale neighborhoods in Nairobi and their children attend local private schools.

    In 2016, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir confirmed the trend, saying that some government officials have “bought apartments, bought very nice houses and villas. They are hiding it in Kenya and refusing to reveal it.”

    In September 2018, President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar agreed on a revived peace agreement that saw the formation of a unity government by May 12 the following year.

    Real estate used to launder the proceeds of foreign corruption

    The Sentry has identified numerous cases in which South Sudanese PEPs have purchased luxury real estate in Kenya for themselves or for their families. This could indicate that the sources of wealth and funds are not being reviewed as part of due diligence checks by the Kenyan real estate sector.

    South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has even acknowledged the trend, saying in 2016 that some government officials “have bought apartments, have bought very beautiful houses, villas. They are hiding it in Kenya and they refuse to reveal it.”

    One such individual is a South Sudanese general who is subject to US sanctions due to his involvement in mass violence against civilians. One source told The Sentry that the general’s family paid $1.5 million in cash for a property that is listed under the name of one of his wives. Another case identified a property belonging to a senior military official who has been involved in violent land grabs, ethnic conflict, and corruption scandals.

    The Sentry further identified that family members of several of South Sudan’s highest-ranking PEPs reside in one particular upscale neighborhood in Nairobi and their children attend local private schools. In yet another instance, The Sentry found that a South Sudanese PEP involved in mining owned a luxury house in Nairobi, the value of which significantly exceeded his modest salary.13
    Joint corporate shareholdings with Kenyan PEPs to move dirty funds.

    The Sentry has identified several examples in which Kenyan citizens, including members of the political elite and their families, have set up businesses with corrupt foreign PEPs, making it easier to move illicit funds around the region. This supports the case for beneficial ownership transparency of corporate structures.

    In one instance, a Kenyan PEP was identified as having a partial stake in a South Sudan registered company that had entered into a joint venture with a company owned by family members of a South Sudanese PEP. The new company, created as part of the joint venture as a “special purpose vehicle,” is described as engaging “in the provision of services in the oil sector,” including waste management, drilling, logistics, and air transportation. However, it more likely personally benefited family members of the South Sudanese PEP.

    Another company, which appears to be jointly owned by a Kenyan citizen and South Sudanese PEPs, based on the signatures in corporate documents, was used to transfer US dollars into a South Sudanese PEP’s personal account held at a Kenyan bank.

    The South Sudanese PEP was identified by the United Nations (UN) as being responsible for the violence that led to famine in South Sudan.

    A final example includes a company that operates in the oil industry in South Sudan and is owned by the son of a high-ranking South Sudanese PEP, with the remaining shares held by three Kenyan businessmen.

    Misuse of corporate structures for illicit trade
    The Sentry has also found that foreign PEPs have used Kenyan corporate structures to siphon funds from their home countries. In one example, a Kenyan oil company was used to funnel payments to the personal account of a South Sudanese general who acted as a commander during a military offensive one that led to the displacement of 100,000 people in South Sudan and who is subject to UN sanctions. The funds were purported to be “a refund to the SPLA [Sudan People’s Liberation Army]” for failing to deliver fuel, but they do not appear to have made it to the South Sudanese Treasury.

    A separate incident involved the use of Kenyan corporate structures and Kenyan banks to transfer funds to an Australia registered company owned by a family member of a different South Sudanese general. The family member subsequently purchased luxury real estate and luxury vehicles in Australia, which were frozen and seized by Australian authorities.

    Some Kenyan corporate structures were beneficiaries of the $922 million South Sudanese letters of credit scandal, in which oil-backed loans were used to secure financing to import food and goods from neighboring countries. These corporate structures, which were owned by South Sudanese senior officials, members of their families, or well-connected traders, failed to provide the goods following payment, contributing to widespread severe hunger and famine in South Sudan.

    Kenyan corporate structures have also been misused by a UN-sanctioned warlord from the Central Africa Republic (CAR). This individual, who allegedly has ties with Kenyan politicians, traveled to Kenya in 2014 prior to being sanctioned in 2017 by the UN for “engaging in or providing support for acts that undermine the peace, stability or security of the CAR, including acts that threaten or impede the political transition process, or the stabilization and reconciliation process or that fuel violence” and for being “involved in planning, directing, sponsoring, or conducting attacks against UN missions or international security presences, including MINUSCA [the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic], the European Union Missions and French opera- tions which support them.”

    Between 2014 and 2016, he used a network of companies to develop an illicit trade in diamonds and gold, and in exchange he was supposed to receive military equipment, weapons, and ammunition via the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or Sudan. These examples further highlight the need for beneficial ownership transparency and for firms subject to AML/CFT measures to monitor and report suspicious transactions.

    Bank accounts used for cross-border illicit transfers

    The Sentry has obtained documents indicating that millions of dollars in questionable payments linked to top South Sudanese officials have transited through Kenyan banks, reinforcing the need to monitor and report suspicious transactions and to have foreign PEP due diligence measures in place.

    In one instance, a South Sudanese PEP purchased a luxury home using a US dollar-denominated account held at the Ugandan branch of a Kenyan bank.

    This occurred during a period of intense fighting involving a nonstate militia that was funded and supported by the PEP’s office. In a separate example, a Kenyan bank housed a South Sudanese PEP’s US dollar-denominated personal ac- count, through which millions transited.Transactions included the receipt of large cash deposits and payments from construction companies backed by Chinese, Lebanese, and possibly Turkish investors and the withdrawal of over $1 million in cash by the South Sudanese PEP.

    In a case involving another South Sudanese PEP, suspicious transactions were related to “reimbursement” payments for a fuel supply deal that fell through and took the form of transfers of hundreds of thousands of dollars into the PEP’s account by a multinational corporation operating in South Sudan. In another matter, bank records reviewed by The Sentry indicate that a Kenyan bank processed payments for the personal account of a UN-sanctioned South Sudanese PEP.

    The account received suspicious financial transfers, including from someone who shares a name with the advisor of a high-ranking Kenyan PEP and from a Kenyan multinational petroleum company operating in South Sudan. The account continued to operate after UN sanc- tions were imposed. Kenyan corporate structures have also been used to siphon government funds from South Sudan and facilitate arms transfers.

    Recently, Kenyan authorities froze an account held at a Kenyan bank by a US-sanctioned South Sudanese minister. A Kenyan court has since lifted the account freeze order, having accepted the minister’s explanation that the funds in the account were the proceeds of his salary and rental income. The account held 13.42 million Kenyan shillings (approximately $124,260), but the minister had previously held a US dollar denominated account through which an estimated $460,896.20 was transferred prior to its being closed in 2019.

    Financial sector growth in risky markets

    In recent years, Kenya has emerged as a regional banking hub connecting East and Central Africa to international financial centers such as London, New York, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Several Kenyan banks have branches overseas and correspondent banking relationships with top-tier financial institutions around the world. Kenya’s second-largest bank, Equity Group, is now the largest bank in the DRC, will likely be the second-largest bank in Rwanda and possibly the third-largest bank in Uganda, and has a license to operate in Ethiopia.

    KCB, Kenya’s largest bank, has foreign subsidiaries in South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania. NCBA Bank Kenya, Kenya’s third-largest bank, is partially owned by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s family and has oper- ations in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and the Ivory Coast. There are indications that it was previously seeking to expand into Burundi and South Sudan. Kenya’s banking presence in these regions is a positive step toward financial inclusion in these countries, but enhanced due diligence is key to managing correspondent banking relationships while at the same avoiding large-scale de-risking action.

    The Sentry’s reporting has identified Kenya as the largest foreign investor in the South Sudanese banking sector. South Sudan significantly relied upon Kenya for financial services during the war, and this close relationship has continued, with Kenya acting as a significant food export partner to South Sudan. Today, some South Sudanese PEP-owned or -controlled banks have Kenyan investors, and South Sudanese banks with correspondent relation- ships with Kenyan banks may hold nested accounts in Kenya. Additionally, most remittances sent to South Sudan from around the world are spent in Kenya and Uganda.

    The Sentry has also reported numerous questionable transactions involving top officials from South Sudan and banks in Kenya. A previously undisclosed internal audit of South Sudan’s central bank describes significant irregularities pertaining to South Sudanese state assets deposited into Kenyan banks.

    The US government has found that some financial institutions in Kenya are involved in currency transactions thatare linked to international narcotics trafficking. Local mines covering for conflict gold smuggling.

    Following an in-depth investigation, The Sentry raised serious concerns that a corporate network had purchased conflict gold from the DRC, processed it in Uganda, and exported it to the UAE. Companies in this network claimed to have sourced gold from accredited mines in Kenya. Kenya’s Vision 2030 blueprint includes plans “to have a certification laboratory and audit agency” for minerals. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mining indicated that it would equip and operationalize the Mineral Certification Laboratory and establish four mineral audit offices by March 31, 2019. No further updates are available to confirm that a certification laboratory or audit agency offices have been established or to indicate that Kenya has implemented mine certification as part of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) minerals certification process.
    Arms and munitions shipments to regional conflict zones.

    The financing for arms and munitions contracts should be subject to enhanced due diligence, and firms should identify beneficial owners for legal structures. However, The Sentry’s reporting has identified Kenya as a trans- shipment site for arms and munitions intended for use in South Sudan. In one case, armored vehicles and spare parts were delivered in several shipments to a site in Kenya. The shipment was sent by a Russian company on behalf of a company based in the UAE, reportedly South Sudanese owned. South Sudan’s Ministry of Interior subsequently received the vehicles, which have been photographed on the battlefield as recently as 2018.

    In a separate case, an American arms trafficker attempted to sell a trove of weapons worth $43 million to an ousted South Sudanese warlord. Initially, the weapons were to be sold to a Kenya-based shell company linked to the South Sudanese warlord, who owns a mansion with his family in Kenya worth approximately $2 million.

    A report by Conflict Armament Research on the supply of weapons into South Sudan during the civil war identified further links with Kenya. In May 2014, a Chinese arms manufacturer sent tens of thousands of arms and munitions, including small caliber ammunition, rockets, grenades, grenade launchers, assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns, to Juba via Kenya. The UN arms embargo did not come into effect until July 2018; thus, the transfers likely did not violate international law at the time. As of 2017, around 56% of ammunition sampled by Conflict Armament Research in South Sudan included a code denoting that it was manufactured by a state factory in China.

    In 2015, an official from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) entered into negotiations for US indi- viduals to supply and operate large civilian aircraft used to move military personnel and equipment via US and Kenyan companies. The deal was not finalized, and it is not clear whether US counterparts were cognizant that they had entered into negotiations with the opposition.51 SPLA-IO officials also tried to acquire their own aircraft, entering into negotiations with a US lawyer and a Somali-US citizen to buy a second-hand aircraft for $4 million in late 2015 and early 2016. The seller was listed as a newly registered Kenyan subsidiary of a US company.

    Laundering the proceeds of domestic corruption
    Domestic corruption in Kenya is rife, but enhanced due diligence on PEPs can help prevent the laundering of the proceeds of corruption. In 2015, Kenyatta branded corruption a threat to national security and renewed the war on graft. One year later, Kenya’s anti-graft chief stated that the country was losing a third of its state budget around $6 billion to corruption.82 A 2017 survey by Kenya’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) found that “corruption and unethical conduct permeate all sectors both public and private.”

    In early 2021, Kenyatta was quot- ed stating, “The amount they [public officials] steal every day is more than Sh2 billion.“ The use of offshore bank accounts in secrecy jurisdictions is widespread, and numerous Kenyan PEPs were exposed hiding their wealth offshore by the Panama Papers.

    Corruption is often cited by businesses abroad as a barrier to investment,87 and corrupt practices range from the most prevalent form which involves payment of bribes for government services, particularly when registering or seeking identity records—to abuse of office, favoritism, and delays in service provision, among others.

    The UN has also linked corruption by individuals involved in law enforcement operations—the police, military, and cus- toms—to the illicit wildlife trade. A recent probe has been opened into the allocation of contracts linked to the country’s COVID-19 response. Kenya received more than $2 billion in aid and grants to fight the pandemic, but some evidence indicates that multimil- lion-dollar contracts for the purchase of medical supplies were allocated to politically connected businesses and individuals, recently formed companies, or suppliers selling goods at overly inflated prices.

    However, it may be some time before the people of Kenya see results from the COVID corruption probe, as political interference de- laying judicial proceedings has been identified in multiple cases brought against politicians.

    Strong anti-corruption measures combined with community engagement continue to be key in driving out domestic corruption.

    Local militias

    The deadline has been extended twice, with the US linking the two to the continuation of the conflict in the country by organizing local militias to launch attacks on opposition forces and overseeing training of tribal militias to consolidate their power.

    “Sentry coverage has identified Kenya as the largest foreign investor in South Sudan’s banking sector. South Sudan relied heavily on Kenya for financial services during the war, and this close relationship has continued as Kenya acts as a key export partner for South Sudan, “the report reads.

    It was not Prevents the revenue from crime and corruption through the Kenyan banking system are a serious risk factor and could jeopardize the financial system and the country’s access to global finance.

    The government must combat these illegal financial flows in order to keep Kenya considered With its Vision 2030, Kenya is a financial center in Africa, says Sentry Senior Advisor Denisse Rudich.

    “On the way to its Vision 2030 and the establishment of the Nairobi International Financial Center, Kenya can now take a real leadership role in the fight against illegal funding, promoting transparency and integrity as it grows as a regional financial center by enforcing its laws and regulations The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing improved, “she said.

    The report urges Kenya to continue fighting not only domestic but also foreign corruption.

    “Kenya’s banking presence in these Regions is a positive step towards financial inclusion in these countries, but enhanced due diligence is key to managing correspondent banking relationships while avoiding large-scale risk mitigation, “adds the report.

    Justyna Gudzowska, director of illicit finance at The Sentry, noted that by introducing much-needed reforms, Kenya “can show the world that it is not open to businesses that want to launder the proceeds of foreign corruption, including its neighbors in South Sudan.”

  • How State Plans To Stop Fraudsters From Using Insurance Brokers To Launder Dirty Cash

    How State Plans To Stop Fraudsters From Using Insurance Brokers To Launder Dirty Cash

    Insurance brokers and agents will be required to reveal the identity of policyholders and their sources of income in the latest drive to combat money laundering and flow of illicit money.

    A State-backed Bill is seeking to add the brokers and the agents among entities expected to report all transactions above Sh1.1 million to the government and smaller payments that are deemed suspicious.

    The move, if approved by Parliament, will see the two join sectors such as banking, stockbrokers and accountants that report large and suspicious cash transactions to the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) — the agency established in April
    2012 to identify and combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.

    Insurance brokers and agents will be obligated to disclose the name, addresses, date of birth, ID number and occupation of buyers as well as date of transaction and amount involved, among others.

    The proposed law comes amid fears that drug dealers, those involved in corruption and fraudsters are targeting the insurance sector through agents and brokers to clean
    dirty money.

    Owners of illicit cash buy insurance, especially life cover, put extra cash in them and then seek State to demand identity, pay of insurance holders refunds after cancelling the policy prematurely.

    Although the buyers pay penalties to cash the insurance policies early, the resulting cheque or bank wire transfers appear to be legitimate investment proceeds, ultimately “washing” dirty money.

    Regulators globally are increasingly monitoring the flow of cash within the insurance industry to capture money laundering cases.

    “Provided that this applies both to insurance undertakings and to insurance intermediaries, including agents and brokers,” says the Bill introduced in Parliament by National Assembly Majority leader Amos Kimunya on entities that report to FRC.

    SH27BN POLICIES

    The proposed law targets agents and brokers who in 2019 controlled 85 percent or an equivalent of Sh164.8 billion in premiums with insurance firms collecting policies worth Sh27.1 billion through their networks.

    This illustrates the dominance of agents and brokers in Kenya’s insurance market.

    Although the law has required banks to report suspicious activity and potential money laundering for years and insurance firms from last year, brokers and agents are not covered by the regulations.

    The Association of Insurance Brokers of Kenya (AIBK) says brokers, on average, have contributed 36 percent of the combined short-term and long-term premiums, with agents contributing about 49 percent while insurers collect about 16 percent.

    The 191 licensed brokers collected premiums worth Sh63.7 billion in 2019 while agents processed policies of Sh101.1 billion.

    Now insurance firms, their brokers and agents will be required to develop a high priority list targeting rich customers, politically exposed clients, foreigners from risky countries, and those who use trusts and nominees to buy cover.

    Also targeted are businesses that operate primarily on a cash basis and unregulated companies.

    They are also required to store data on customer, nature and date of transactions, type of currency, policy and claims settlement details, statements of account and business correspondence, copies of official documents of identity such as passports, identity cards for at least seven years after the end of the business relationship.

    This information should be easy to retrieve.

    PENSION CONTRACTS

    Those labelled high-risk will be tracked if they try to change beneficiaries or make requests to pay anyone other than themselves and their families.

    They will also be probed for sudden increase of premiums or sum insured, payment by wire transfers across borders, use of anonymous accounts, lump sum top-ups on pension and life insurance contracts, unusual use of policy as collateral, early surrender of the policy or change of the duration where this causes penalties or loss of tax relief.

    The law also recommends tracking the lifestyle of employees who help money launderers to process their proceeds.

    Some of the traits insurance firms have been warned about are tracking unexpected changes among their staff, especially when they start exhibiting lavish lifestyles or refusing to take leave and holidays.

    Employees whose sales spike all of a sudden or collude with clients to use their office or home address for the dispatch of customer documentation will also attract scrutiny.

    The instruction manual will require companies to investigate the nature of business a customer is doing before accepting their premiums.

    If they apply for a policy on a business that is outside their patterns, or request insurance of an amount above their need or offer cash for businesses that should be settled with cheques, then the insurance company has to flag the transaction.

    The push for brokers and agents to report suspect transactions comes when the State is looking to add more businesses and professions to the list of entities with reporting obligations.

    Lawyers, employees of accounting firms and trusts holding assets for wealthy people will be required to report suspicious trades and transactions to the FRC once fresh changes to the law are brought to Parliament.

    Trustees have been included in the list amid suspicion that Trusts are becoming the choice vehicles for laundering proceeds of crime and corruption.

    Owners of accounting firms are covered in the current law, but the amendments will see their employees expected to report to the FRC.

    Lawyers are targeted in property transactions, bank accounts management, company acquisitions and setting up of businesses.

    They have recently emerged as a weak link in the fight against money laundering by using bank accounts for depositing client cash as a shield to reporting to the FRC.

    Kenya has been fingered for illicit money entering the country from crime, drug, corruption and shady business activities, illustrated by homes in leafy suburbs and luxury cars.

  • MONEY LAUNDERING: ‘A Kleptocrat’s dream’: US real estate a safe haven for billions in dirty money, report says

    MONEY LAUNDERING: ‘A Kleptocrat’s dream’: US real estate a safe haven for billions in dirty money, report says

    At least $2.3 billion has been laundered via U.S. real estate transactions in the last five years, according to a new report by a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

    By using a database of over 100 publicly reported real estate money laundering cases in the U.S., United Kingdom and Canada, Global Financial Integrity says the U.S. has become a preferred destination for those looking to use real estate to stash illicit funds — making it a “Kleptocrat’s dream.”

    Public officials and their associates, known as politically exposed persons, were involved in more than half of the U.S. cases that GFI reviewed. Those PEPs include Genaro García Luna, a former Mexican security minister who bought millions of dollars of U.S. property while accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa cartel, and the stepson of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was arrested in 2019for his alleged role in the 1MDB scandal.

    “[Real estate] provides a really easy way to hide ill-gotten gains with little oversight and few questions asked,” GFI policy director Lakshmi Kumar told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. “If you’re a criminal, why would you not choose a method that allows you to flaunt your wealth openly, but also hide its illicit nature?”

    The U.S. was once considered at the regulatory forefront when it came to preventing money laundering through real estate, adding “persons involved in real estate closings and settlements” to the Bank Secrecy Act’s definition of financial institutions in 1988. But over time, Kumar says, the country lost ground to its peers in the U.K. and Europe.

    “This is clearly a systemic issue globally,” Kumar said. “Everyone’s discovering how easy it is to use and abuse the real estate sector. The difference is that everyone else seems to have charted a path forward. They have put in legislation they’re trying to figure it out. In the U.S., we’re still held back.”

    One of the biggest issues that the report cites is the use of geographic targeting orders as the U.S.’s primary tool to identify potential money laundering events. GTOs impose reporting requirements on real estate purchases, but only in narrowly targeted scenarios — large cash purchases by legal entities in specific geographic areas.

    More than 60% of the U.S. cases examined in the report involved properties in at least one county not covered by a targeting order, which GFI says highlights the inadequacy of the system.

    “A lot of the money laundering cases we saw reported in the U.K. and Canada were really concentrated in what you’d call real estate hubs in the country,” Kumar said. “In the U.S., that was not the case. It was spread far and wide.”

    Another concern the report outlines is that the U.S. anti-money laundering regime is focused on residential purchases, when a significant portion of the cases GFI reviewed involve commercial real estate transactions.

    The FinCEN Files, an investigation on global dirty money flows by ICIJ and BuzzFeed News, examined the impact of large-scale money laundering on middle America.

    ICIJ found that Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, whose case is cited in GFI’s report, amassed a Midwest real estate empire with his associates, at one time becoming Cleveland’s largest commercial landlords, and leaving behind a trail of unpaid property taxes, unemployed workers and dangerous factory conditions. Kolomoisky has since been sanctioned by the U.S. State Department.

    Kumar said that because commercial deals often involve several parties and complex financing arrangements, they are an easy way to stash illicit money.

    “When you talk about residential real estate, the heart of it is identifying who is the beneficial owner, [because] if you find out who the beneficial owner is, it also tells you who the criminal is,” Kumar told ICIJ. “In a commercial real estate investment, you don’t have to own the majority stake to be a criminal. You can own 2% of a $500 million property, and you are [still] laundering millions through it.”

    The report also delves into the involvement of “gatekeepers” in real estate transactions and the direct role of real estate agents, lawyers and accountants in facilitating illicit transactions. But GFI also points to regulating private investment advisers as a more under-the-radar way of tackling real estate money laundering.

    “Investment vehicles are one of the key methods in which to invest in commercial real estate in this country,” Kumar said. “And private equity, venture capital [and] hedge funds have no [anti-money laundering] requirements — so that becomes a black box, because you don’t know who is bringing what money into this country and how.”

    The report proposes major overhauls to the U.S.’s anti-money laundering program to fill these gaps, including replacing GTOs with more stringent reporting requirements on real estate transactions across the country, robust implementation of the beneficial ownership registry passed this year as part of the Corporate Transparency Act, and urging the U.S. Treasury to issue specific regulations regarding purchases by foreign PEPs.

  • Court To Rule On Gichuru, Okemo Britain Extradition

    Court To Rule On Gichuru, Okemo Britain Extradition

    The Supreme Court has set date for the hearing of a petition seeking clarification of whether former Cabinet minister Chris Okemo and former Kenya Power boss Samuel Gichuru can be extradited to Jersey Island to face theft and money laundering charges.

    The judges are expected to determine who between the Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has the legal authority to commence extradition proceedings in court.

    The DPP moved to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal quashed the extradition of Mr Okemo and Mr Gichuru in March 2018 saying the process had been wrongly initiated by the prosecutions boss.

    In the appeal, the DPP wants the appellate court’s decision set aside.

    The Supreme Court will hear the suit on October 5, 2021.

    The Royal Court of Jersey said the Gichuru-Okemo secret accounts received bribes in hard currency estimated at Sh997 million, but only half of the entire loot was found and seized.

    Mr Gichuru and Mr Okemo had reportedly subtly wired large sums from the Jersey account to themselves in the years to 2002. The authorities were only able to recover foreign currency amounting to Sh526 million and Sh444 million was to be wired back to Kenya after deducting court expenses.

    Mr Okemo served in President Moi’s government as the Minister for Energy between 1999 and 2001 while Mr Gichuru was the managing director of Kenya Power & Lighting Company between November 1984 and February 2013.

    A court in Jersey issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr Gichuru and Mr Okemo on April 20, 2011, but the two have challenged the move through multiple legal suits in Kenyan courts.

    The DPP wanted the two sent to Jersey to face corruption and money laundering charges.

    Mr Gichuru and Mr Okemo face a jail term of up to 14 years each if they are extradited to Jersey and found guilty of the racketeering charges preferred against them.

    Interestingly, Kenyan authorities have never opened criminal proceedings against the duo, whose bribery scheme cost taxpayers billions of shillings and hurt the development of power plants — ushering in power blackouts and expensive electricity.

    The asset seizure proceedings and judgment offer a detailed breakdown of the goings-on in the secret account and a rare glimpse of the extent to which Mr Gichuru and Mr Okemo benefited from the bribery scheme.

    The scheme was executed through Windward Trading Ltd — the entity through which Mr Gichuru received hefty kickbacks to award suppliers lucrative tenders during his two-decade tenure at the helm of Kenya Power that ended in 2003.

    Mr Gichuru in August 1986 set up Windward Trading in Jersey as the entity which would receive bribes disguised as ‘commissions’ or ‘consultancy fees’ from firms which won Kenya Power tenders.

    Walbrook Trustees (Jersey) Ltd were the administrators and face of the company and would wire kickbacks received to Mr Gichuru and Mr Okemo.

    However, in May 2002, Walbrook filed a suspicious transaction report with Jersey authorities and refused to make any further payments to Mr Gichuru from these accounts, leading to a freeze on the accounts.

    The scheme was brought into sharper focus by Mr Gichuru’s messy divorce case where his wife lifted the lid on his secret offshore accounts, prompting Jersey authorities to further investigate the matter.

    Windward on February 24, 2016 pleaded guilty to one count of possessing proceeds of crime and three counts of acquiring profits from criminal conduct.

  • Chinese Broker Laundered Latin American Drug Money Around the World

    Chinese Broker Laundered Latin American Drug Money Around the World

    A Chinese businessman laundered tens of millions of dollars in drug money through a Guatemalan casino, a US seafood export company, Miami banks, and Chinese bank accounts, in a case that reveals the wide reach of such money laundering networks.

    Xizhi Li, a Chinese national with US citizenship, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money in early August, according to a news release from the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Between 2008 and 2019, Li laundered some $30 million in drug proceeds for traffickers in Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala.

    Prosecutors said Li “forged close ties” with these groups while living in Mexico, obtaining contracts to conduct financial transactions with their US-based proceeds, according to an indictment against him and other conspirators. He used fake identities such as “Francisco Ley Tan” to open Miami bank accounts and purchase a casino in Guatemala used in the scheme.

    The scheme used “a foreign casino, foreign and domestic front companies, foreign and domestic bank accounts, false passports and other false identification documents” to launder the drug money, the Justice Department said in its news release.

    According to prosecutors, bulk cash made from US cocaine sales was moved among different states to cover up its origins. It was later sent to Chinese bank accounts to purchase Chinese goods. Goods were also bought in the United States and sent to China. Merchants in Latin America looking to import these goods then used their local currency to pay Li and others for the items.

    One of Li’s co-conspirators Tao Liu, of Hong Kong, was sentenced to seven years in prison on August 3rd for his role in the network. Prosecutors said Liu accepted drug money on behalf of Li, which he later deposited into bank accounts.

    Between April and June of this year, three other conspirators pleaded guilty, according to the Justice Department. Another suspect was charged and is pending extraditionafter he was arrested in Peru.

    InSight Crime Analysis

    Drug money is not only increasingly being laundered through Chinese bank accounts but brokers are setting up throughout the Americas and beyond to serve trafficking clientele and move cash.

    Prosecutors said nodes of the money laundering group were based in the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, China and elsewhere. One suspect made trips to New York and Los Angeles, as well as to the Mexican city of Cancún and Guatemala City to facilitate the network’s activities. The Guatemalan casino owned by Li served as a meeting point for the network.

    The group also used a US seafood import and export business to purchase seafood products using cocaine money. The products were later exported for sale in China and Hong Kong.

    Messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and WeChat, were used by associates to communicate.

    Li and his co-conspirators sought to obtain as many “contracts” as possible from drug trafficking organizations. They then received commissions on the transactions, or a percentage of the funds involved, prosecutors said.

    What’s more, Chinese players in the money laundering trade have a wide range of schemes open to them. In one, the US and Mexican financial systems were bypassed altogether. Chinese-owned businesses simply received drug cash and then transferred a corresponding amount through a Chinese banking application.

  • Equity Bank Linked To Ruto’s Money Laundering Claim In Uganda’s Vaccine Plant Saga

    Equity Bank Linked To Ruto’s Money Laundering Claim In Uganda’s Vaccine Plant Saga

    Gloves are off for President Uhuru who now more than ever appears to be moving rocks to hit his friend turned foe and his deputy, Ruto.

    It all started with the blockade of his flight to Uganda in a move that was directed from the Statehouse, while making a clearance on the issue, Interior PS said that Ruto didn’t meet the requirements to fly out and more so that he needed to acquire a clearance from the President himself given he’s not only a civil servant but his deputy.

    Ruto on his end has said that the blockade was meant to ridicule and embarrass him saying that he has never had to seek clearance or permission from the president to travel.

    Reports are now emerging that the decision to block Deputy President William Ruto from travelling to Uganda was made on July 31 following concerns by the government that his frequent travels to the neighbouring country could be linked to money laundering schemes.

    And even as debate on the aborted trip rages, focus by security officials has shifted to seven Turkish nationals, six men and a woman, who have been shuttling between Istanbul, Entebbe and Nairobi for the past few months.

    Their activities, which culminated in the standoff at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport on Monday when Ruto was blocked from travelling out of the country by immigration, have been closely monitored for months by Kenyan authorities.

    Ruto has claimed that he was leading a delegation to commission a Covid-19 vaccine plant that he had helped Turkish businessman Harun Aydin to put up.

    Speaking during an interview with a local radio station yesterday, Ruto claimed he had helped Aydin to acquire a Sh15 billion loan from Equity Bank to set up a vaccine processing factory in Uganda, which he and three other businessmen alongside his close allies were scheduled to commission on Monday.

    “I helped him on one phone call. He said the benefits Ugandans will get are the same that Kenyans will get.”

    Many have questioned as to how simple it is for Equity to dish out Sh15B as a loan merely from a phone call and to foreigners whose past are questionable.

    Claim by Ruto that he secured the loan of such magnitude by simply placing a call has elicited reactions from Kenyans who’ve been victims of banks collapsing in insider, fraudulent loans.

    Unauthenticated letter doing rounds on social media allegedly from Equity Bank, has distanced the bank from the claims by DP that he secured the loan via a phone call.

    The unauthentic letter doing rounds.

    However, Uganda President Museveni affirmed that indeed it was Equity Bank that financed the project.

    The focus is now on the Bank and how easily manipulated it can be that a phone call broke the ice and foreigners easily given Sh15B an amount that can collapse an institution.

    Detectives on trailing the money flow and possible fraud in laundering, puts the bank in the middle of a circus that includes the deputy President, the foreign investors in what could be a long chain with conspirators. Banks have been used before in channeling dirty moneySiphoning dirty money and even with fines which Equity has been a casualty of CBK in several plunder of public funds, has never stopped the trade.

    Equity Bank was fined Ksh 120 million for facilitating NYS and other scandals where money was packed in bags. Banking industry is the second largest criminal cartel in Kenya second only to the government.

    Intelligence sources believe that Ruto by virtue of his office, influenced, brokered and ‘secured’ a loan from Equity Bank while working with Turkish nationals in the suspected money laundering scheme in Uganda before he was caught pants down. Bank allegedly used as a conduit. The new developments now put the bank under investigation and it’s only a matter of time before the truth come to surface. Question is how many such risky deals could be going on without public’s attention. And just how safe is depositors and investors money held at equity safe if a phone call can get Sh15B lifted from their bank with so much ease. Was this a political bargain and part of deal between Ruto and Equity Bank?

    During Ruto’s July 6 private visit to Uganda, he had met two men and a female, all Turkish nationals according to intelligence sources.

    Two of the foreigners, Hamit Demir, holder of passport number U23165848 and Mehmet Akif Bagle, holding passport number U11979628, flew from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Entebbe on July 6. They had applied for Ugandan visas while in Kenya.

    Since there are no direct flights between Entebbe and Istanbul, the Turkish capital, travellers have to go through Kigali, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Nairobi or Doha.

    The two departed JKIA at around 8.30am and arrived in Entebbe International Airport at around 9.50am, according to sources.

    The sources said intelligence officers had launched a probe into the activities of some of the foreigners. Security officials were, however, not sent to Uganda to establish the real agenda of the meeting “due to risks involved”.

    Following these developments, senior Kenya government and security officials decided on Saturday July 31 that the DP would not be allowed to travel out of the country. He was, however, not informed.

    Intelligence officials believe the meetings with the foreigners point to a scheme where the visitors could be used to launder money currently outside the country by purporting to invest it in Kenya.

    This might explain why Monday’s controversial trip that involved some politicians and businessmen close to Ruto was billed as an investment mission where the Turkish man Aydin was presented as a partner in a multi-billion shilling fruit farming venture.

    Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, one of the MPs in Ruto’s delegation, has said they wanted to explore farming opportunities in the neighbouring country.

    “There is a large fruit farm of which the Ugandan government can buy shares,” Sudi said.

    Money laundering, according to authorities, seeks to hide the source of money believed to have been obtained illegally, by passing it through channels including commercial transactions and other forms of investment.

    According to the Financial Reporting Centre, such schemes seek to hide and legalise the funds without catching the attention of authorities and also making sure all connections of the funds to criminal activities is removed.

    Finally, the “cleansed” money returns to the owner in an indirect way, and is used for legitimate purposes.

    According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) about Sh200 trillion is laundered globally every year.

  • Court Ends Fraud, Tax Evasion And Money Laundering Suit Against Bluebird Aviation Owners

    Court Ends Fraud, Tax Evasion And Money Laundering Suit Against Bluebird Aviation Owners

    The High Court has dismissed a suit filed by minority owner of Bluebird Aviation who accused his partners of siphoning more than $1 billion (Sh108 billion) from the airline through tax evasion, fraud and money laundering.

    Justice Alfred Mabeya brought to an end the five-year court battle pitting Adan Abdi Yussuf against three other owners of the 29-year-old airline.

    The judgment came after the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) cleared three shareholders and executives of Bluebird — Hussein Farah, Unshur Mohamed and Mohamed Abdikadir — from financial malpractices after a nine-month investigation.

    The investigation followed a criminal complaint from Mr Yussuf against his fellow shareholders, accusing them of fraudulently channelling massive funds out of the company as part of a money laundering scheme.

    Justice Mabeya dismissed Mr Yusuf’s allegations, saying he failed to prove claims of fraudulent accounting, tax evasion, fraud and money laundering.

    “In the present case, all that the plaintiff did was to make sweeping allegations without any backing by way of evidence. He only stated that he had carried out investigations and made discovery of the allegations he made,” said the judge.

    “The documents that were produced were not authenticated to prove any of the allegations made against the defendants.”

    Mr Yussuf, who claims to own 25 percent of the charter airline, argued that more $1 billion (about Sh108 billion) has been stolen and put in offshore accounts and investments in Western capitals after being transported physically out of the country without declaration. He said the three directors were using the airport passes granted for restricted areas in airports to move the billions.

    The DCI dismissed the secret movement of cash at the airports, arguing its investigation and probe by Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) found no evidence of money laundering.

    The Financial Reporting Centre through the DCI said it failed to detect breaches while tracking the flow of cash in and outside Blue Bird Aviation.

    Mr Yussuf claimed that his partners were stashing proceeds from the airline in international banks under Amazon International FZE. But Justice Mabeya said his partners had sufficiently showed that their relationship with Amazon was purely commercial.

    “That the plaintiff had failed to demonstrate the directorship or shareholding of the defendants at Amazon or that they had stolen money from the Company and deposited the same at Amazon’s accounts,” he said.

    “No faithful director exercising independent judgment would take any of the said measures, none of which are beneficial to the Company. In fact, all the steps taken by the plaintiff were contrary to the success of the Company. They were meant to sound a death knell on the company,” he added.

  • DP Ruto Under Investigations For Money Laundering With Turkish Investors In The Uganda’s Vaccine Plant Scheme

    DP Ruto Under Investigations For Money Laundering With Turkish Investors In The Uganda’s Vaccine Plant Scheme

    HOW IT WORKS

    • Money laundering seeks to hide the source of money believed to have been obtained illegally, by passing it through channels including commercial transactions and other forms of investment.

    • According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) about Sh200 trillion is laundered globally every year.

    The decision to block Deputy President William Ruto from travelling to Uganda was made on July 31 following concerns by the government that his frequent travels to the neighbouring country could be linked to money laundering schemes, impeccable sources have told People Daily.

    And even as debate on the aborted trip rages, focus by security officials has shifted to seven Turkish nationals, six men and a woman, who have been shuttling between Istanbul, Entebbe and Nairobi for the past few months.

    Their activities, which culminated in the standoff at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport on Monday when Ruto was blocked from travelling out of the country by immigration, have been closely monitored for months by Kenyan authorities.

    The details from security agencies, however, contradict the explanation given by Ruto yesterday that he was leading a delegation to commission a Covid-19 vaccine plant that he had helped Turkish businessman Harun Aydin to put up.

    Speaking during an interview with a local radio station yesterday, Ruto claimed he had helped Aydin to acquire a Sh15 billion loan from Equity Bank to set up a vaccine processing factory in Uganda, which he and three other businessmen alongside his close allies were scheduled to commission on Monday.

    “I helped him on one phone call. He said the benefits Ugandans will get are the same that Kenyans will get. There were three businessmen in that trip. The Turkish Embassy has issued a statement confirming that the gentleman is an investor who has a valid work permit,” said Ruto.

    The DP, who had visited the East African country early last month, condemned those involved in the cancellation of his trip, terming the move “foolish and selfish”.

    But government sources revealed that security agencies had placed the DP on the radar after they became suspicious about his movements and interactions.

    During Ruto’s July 6 private visit to Uganda, he had met two men and a female, all Turkish nationals. According to sources, the four held a day-long meeting which was not attended by Aydin.

    “The pictures circulated showing the DP at the launch of a vaccines factory were diversionary, he spent most of his time meeting with the Turkish delegation,” a security source said.

    Two of the foreigners, Hamit Demir, holder of passport number U23165848 and Mehmet Akif Bagle, holding passport number U11979628, flew from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to Entebbe on July 6. They had applied for Ugandan visas while in Kenya.

    Intelligence officials

    Since there are no direct flights between Entebbe and Istanbul, the Turkish capital, travellers have to go through Kigali, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Nairobi or Doha. The two departed JKIA at around 8.30am and arrived in Entebbe International Airport at around 9.50am, according to sources.

    The sources said intelligence officers had launched a probe into the activities of some of the foreigners. Security officials were, however, not sent to Uganda to establish the real agenda of the meeting “due to risks involved”.

    Following these developments, senior Kenya government and security officials decided on Saturday July 31 that the DP would not be allowed to travel out of the country. He was, however, not informed.

    Intelligence officials believe the meetings with the foreigners point to a scheme where the visitors could be used to launder money currently outside the country by purporting to invest it in Kenya.

    This might explain why Monday’s controversial trip that involved some politicians and businessmen close to Ruto was billed as an investment mission where the Turkish man Aydin was presented as a partner in a multi-billion shilling fruit farming venture.

    Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, one of the MPs in Ruto’s delegation, has said they wanted to explore farming opportunities in the neighbouring country. “There is a large fruit farm of which the Ugandan government can buy shares,” Sudi said.

    Money laundering, according to authorities, seeks to hide the source of money believed to have been obtained illegally, by passing it through channels including commercial transactions and other forms of investment.

    According to the Financial Reporting Centre, such schemes seek to hide and legalise the funds without catching the attention of authorities and also making sure all connections of the funds to criminal activities is removed.

    Finally, the “cleansed” money returns to the owner in an indirect way, and is used for legitimate purposes. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) about Sh200 trillion is laundered globally every year.

    During his July visit to Uganda, Ruto built a case for collaboration in addressing challenges facing African countries.

    “We are keen to building partnerships with other African countries to move the continent away from only packaging and labelling of drugs to the restructuring of its market to focus more on upstream production,” he tweeted.

    The same evening, President Museveni tweeted: “Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto paid me a courtesy visit at State House Entebbe this evening.” On Tuesday, Sudi told the Daily Nation that the purpose of Ruto’s trip to Uganda was to learn political lessons from the National Resistance Movement (NRM) which has ruled Uganda for more than 35 years.

    And yesterday, ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna wondered why the Ruto team would want to learn any political lessons from Uganda.

    “When looking for examples of countries we can emulate, it’s often Singapore, Malaysia, the Nordics like Finland and Denmark. There is reason to worry when someone who wants to lead Kenya gets his inspiration from Uganda,” he said.

    In the abortive Monday visit, Ruto was to be accompanied by Aydin, MPs Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Benjamin Tayari (Kinango) and Sudi; Mombasa businessman David Langat, Eric Rutto and Elijah Rono.

    The team was blocked at the Wilson Airport before they were allowed to travel, without the DP.

    The whereabouts of Aydin, holder of passport holder number U20470175, remained unknown yesterday after it was confirmed that he did not come back from Uganda on Tuesday when the rest of the delegation returned home. Records at a city hotel where he had been staying since June 24 indicated that he had checked out.

  • Kenyan Law Firm Okatch And Partners Advocates Named In The Sh1.1B Heist By Nigerian Scammer Hushpuppi

    Kenyan Law Firm Okatch And Partners Advocates Named In The Sh1.1B Heist By Nigerian Scammer Hushpuppi

    A Kenyan law firm was used in the multimillion heist orchestrated by indicted Nigerian scammer Hushpuppi.

    A federal grand jury indictment unsealed this week alleges an elaborate scheme to steal more than $1.1 million from a businessperson attempting to finance the construction of a school for children in Qatar – and the subsequent laundering of illicit proceeds through bank accounts around the world.

    The three-count indictment returned on April 29 and unsealed Monday charges three U.S.-based defendants who were arrested last week – as well as three defendants believed to be in Africa – with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

    The criminal complaint that initiated the prosecution in February was also unsealed Monday, revealing that Ramon Olorunwa Abbas – also known by his social media handle of “Ray Hushpuppi” – was initially charged in this case. Court documents ordered unsealed today show that Abbas, a 37-year-old Nigerian national, pleaded guilty on April 20. A version of Abbas’ plea agreement filed late Tuesday outlines his role in the school-finance scheme, as well as several other cyber and business email compromise schemes that cumulatively caused more than $24 million in losses.

    According to the indictment, Abbas allegedly conspired with Abdulrahman Imraan Juma, a.k.a. “Abdul,” 28, of Kenya, and Kelly Chibuzo Vincent, 40, of Nigeria, to defraud the Qatari businessperson by claiming to be consultants and bankers who could facilitate a loan to finance construction of the planned school. Juma allegedly posed as a facilitator and consultant for the illusory bank loans, while Abbas played the role of “Malik,” a Wells Fargo banker in New York, according to court documents. Vincent, in turn, allegedly provided support for the false narratives fed to the victim by, among other things, creating bogus documents and arranging for the creation of a fake bank website and phone banking line.

    Abdulrahman seen in past photo with Hushpuppi.

    The conspirators allegedly defrauded the victim out of more than $1.1 million.

    As per the court documents, Imraan Juma worked hand-in-hand with Hushpuppi and another Nigerian identified as Kelly Chibuzo to defraud a Qatari business person more than Kenya Shillings 1.1 billion in the guise that they will facilitate the businessman with a loan to fund the construction of a school in Qatar.

    Juma posed as a facilitator and consultant for the illusionary bank loans while Hushpuppi played the role of ‘Malik’ a Wells Fargo banker in New York.

    Chibuzo is accused of creating bogus documents and arranging the creation of a bogus Bank website and phone banking line.

    According to court documents seen by Kenya Insights, Juma engaged the services of Kenyan law firm Okatch and Partners Advocates in scamming the Qatari Victim Company, the firm was used to receive the funds from the victim.

    “During this meeting, the Victim Businessperson signed a contract with Westload. The contract stated that the Victim Businessperson was responsible for paying a “consultancy fee” of $225,000 through the law firm Okatch & Partners (“Okatch”), which was located in Kenya. The payment was to be made in two installments—an initial payment of $157,500 and a second payment for $67,500. Westload also provided two initial invoices; one for $157,500 for the first installment and another for $6,900, for purported legal and initial engagement fees.” Court paper reads.

    The Qatari businessman wanted a financier for the construction project and Juma posed as a financier using Westload Financial Solutions Limited (“Westload”) the company purported to facilitate the loan.

    On around December 6 and 7, 2019, the Victim Businessperson wired approximately USD $150,000 to Okatch in four transactions court papers show.

    Then, on February 4, 2020, JUMA told the Victim Businessperson to send money to Okatch, in Kenya. Between approximately February 5 and 10, 2020, the Victim Businessperson sent $299,983.58 to the bank account of Okatch in seven separate transactions.

    Court papers strongly indicate that the law firm facilitated the scamming.

    Duncan Okatch, perhaps the most prominent senior partner in the firm is also a controversial figure in the press.

    Raila Odinga’s aide Silas Jakakimba claimed to have been assaulted by Okatch who’s his ex-wife’s lawyer in child custody case that has been going on for time now. He alleged that Okatch has punched him in the face severally in front of his sons.

    The lawyer got physical after he could not be allowed to attend a meeting that was to be held between Jakakimba, his wife, and the management of the Riara School.

    The lawyer had colluded with Jakakimba’s wife to block him (Jakakimba) from clearing his sons from Riara School, where they had been schooling.

    Okatch also represented Babu Owino in the DJ Evolve shooting saga and has handled a number of high profile cases.

    Fraudsters have perfected their art to erase their footprints by working with rogue law firms who conspire in their scheme by laundering the crime proceeds.

    Tom Okundi of Okundi & Company Advocates is notorious for laundering money for gold scammers, a matter that saw his bank accounts frozen by court after it was determined that mega gold scammer, Jared Otieno used the firm to scam Sh300M some foreigners.

    Such dirty deals do not only jeopardize the reputation of the law firm, but drops clients trust and puts other clients money held by the firms in risk.

    The new revelations could now mean that the US authorities would be flying into the country to trace the Kenyan suspect who’s believed to be somewhere in Africa and on the run. FBI successfully extradited the Akasha brothers who’re now in a US jail over narcotics dealings.

    Hushpuppi was arrested in July last year in Dubai by Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) detectives and flown into the US.

  • How UDA is turning into a gangsters’ paradise

    How UDA is turning into a gangsters’ paradise

    Jubilee administration has been a show case of ‘street leadership’ since it captured power in 2013. The administration saw the emergence of questionable characters ascending to leadership positions under the disguise of ‘youth leadership’. Even the summit of the regime of the day got into power while facing charges of rape and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague, Netherlands.

    Many leaders elected under TNA or URP that formed the coalition then were also characters who reduced the threshold for leadership in Kenya. Former Kamukunji Mp Simon Mbugua, has always been at the centre of controversies, three years ago the EALA legislature was arrested and charged for ganging up with goons to attack a city businessman whom they jointly robbed Ksh 100,000.

    “Jointly with others before the court you robbed Timothy Muceru Muriuki KSh 100, 000 and immediately after the time of such robbery injured him,” the charge sheet read in part.

    And despite being a powerful guy, the prosecution did not object to the request to release Mbugua on bond, they only asked the court to slap him with affordable bond as it turned a blind eye to his influential that he could use to interfere with the witnesses.

    But Simon Mbugua is just one among many of such characters in Jubilee, the former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko is running unknown businesses and is filthy rich. Like the outgoing Mombasa governor Hassan Joho, Sonko has been a rumoured drug pusher for so long to be innocent.

    Zaheer Jhanda flaunting proceeds of money laundering [p/courtesy]
    The sycophantic supporter of the Deputy President William Ruto has inspired many upcoming politicians with questionable sources of wealth to join politics, where it’s easy to rinse dirty money.

    The trend is now becoming the norm, young and flashy politicians like Zaheer Jhanda are now trooping behind the DP William Ruto who is now viewed as the man to beat for the country’s presidency in 2022.

    Quite a number of parliamentary seat aspirants around the DP have been associated with money laundering, looting of public funds and ‘gangsterism’ which they deny and loosely blame on political witch-hunt.

    It is becoming clear that the DP who has made inroads into regions considered Raila Odinga’s strongholds is  lining up crooks and money launderers to buy the support of the people as he sells his ‘hustler vs dynasty’ narrative.

    In February 2021, Dagoretti North MP Simba Arati accused the DP of doing rounds with money launderers while addressing mourners at a funeral service in Kisii. The remarks forced Arati’s South Mugirango counterpart Slyvanus Osoro, a sycophantic Ruto follower to jump onto the podium where the two leaders exchanged kicks and blows. The Dagoretti lawmaker had called on DP Ruto to keep off the company of budding politicians who he accused of defrauding other Kenyans.

    DP William Ruto and Zaheer Jhanda during a past event in Kisii [p/courtesy]
    But Ruto who seems to be charming the residents of Gusiiland has continued to find more fraudsters as his point-men in the Gusiiland. He now has one Zaheer Jhanda who is poised to become the next Member of Parliament for Nyaribari Chache Constituency.

    Jhander is a fraudster millionaire who is always implicated in the fake gold scandals including one where he conned a Saudi royal Sh250 million. The flashy scammer was also embroiled in a Sh12 million car loan dispute with the KCB bank after defaulting several times.

    The lender gave charlatan Jhanda the money he used to buy a new Mitsubishi Fuso Tipper Truck from Simba Corporation Limited for Sh8,917,650 but he only serviced the loan for six months until June 2015 when it lapsed into arrears.

    KCB repossessed the vehicle and sold through a public auction by Leakey Auctioneers on April 26, 2016 for Sh5.18 million when its market value was Sh6.87 million. Jhander was still left with an outstanding loan balance of Sh12,103,943.50 as at November 2016 which continues to accrue interest.

    But DP hardly leaves out the fraudster in his trips to Kisii where he repeatedly presided over fundraisers for a Boda Boda Saccos. In September 2020 when the DP donated Ksh2million, he was accompanied by South Mugirango MP, Sylvanus Osoro, Dagoretti South MP, John Kiarie, and the shadowy businessmen Zaheer Jhanda and Don Bosco Gichana.

    Gichana is another hardcore con who became a free man in 2018 after serving a five year jail term in Arusha Tanzania where he was arrested over money laundering. He is now eyeing the Kitutu Chache South parliamentary seat in the 2022 elections through Ruto’s UDA party.

     

     

  • South Sudan Minister Accused Of Using Kenyan Bank To Launder Millions

    South Sudan Minister Accused Of Using Kenyan Bank To Launder Millions

    The High Court is investigating South Sudan’s minister of cabinet affairs Elia Lomoro for money laundering after authorities said there have been suspicious transactions being made by the senior South Sudanese government official using its Kenyan bank account.

    Justice James Wakiaga issued the orders freezing Martin Elia Lomuro’s bank accounts containing Sh13.42 million following a case filed by Asset Recovery Agency. He is Minister for Cabinet Affairs.

    In a case filed by senior state council Stephen Githinji on behalf of ARA director, the agency said Lomuro’s bank account at the Bank made several suspicious transactions pointing to money laundering.

    “There is reasonable grounds to believe that the funds held by the respondent in the specified bank account are direct benefits, profits and or proceeds of crime obtained from a complex money laundering scheme and are liable to be forfeited to the state under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009,” the application reads in part.

    In December 2019, the US, through the Treasury’s office of foreign assets control (OFAC) sanctioned Lomuro and his defence counterpart Kuol Manyang Juuk for allegations of fanning violence in the country for their own personal enrichment.

    “The United States stands by the people of South Sudan who continue to suffer under this political instability that has led to thousands of deaths. The South Sudanese deserve leaders who are committed to laying the groundwork for a successful, peaceful political transition,” reads the statement by OFAC.

    According to a supporting affidavit sworn by Isaac Nakitare, an investigative officer attached to the agency, Lomuro operated two banks accounts at the Bank – one of them a dollar only account.

    The dollar account received $351, 317.81 as credit out of which $351, 293.52 was debited for the period September 2017-January 2020, Nakitare said in the affidavit.

    It adds, “On December 24, 2019 the respondent instructed Bank to close down his dollar account and send the funds to his local account.”

    Further, preliminary analysis of the bank statement for the dollar established a total of $460,896.20 was transferred to Lomuro’s local currency account.

    Several transactions were made in the account between January 4, 2018 and January 2, 2020 to the tune of Sh46.20 million.

    Nakitare stated in the affidavit that Lomuro made suspicious cash transfers to a bank account held in the name of a Ms Rejah Kedi Ladu Kenyi, an indication that they worked jointly in the suspected money laundering racket.

    The probe also revealed that Lomuro’s account had been credited with Sh122.78 million out of which, Sh109.36 was debited.

    This left a balance of Sh13.42 million which the agency sought to be preserved. The amount is declared as salary.

    “The preliminary analysis of the bank statement held in the name of the respondent does not demonstrate a consistent source of funds which could reasonably be said to be salary,” the officer noted.

    The investigation further revealed that Rejab’s accounts received Sh42.322 million

    Out of the amount, Sh39.68 million was received from various sources on diverse dates between September 14, 2017 and December 29, 2020.

    “That investigation has established that MS Rejah Kedi Ladu Kenyi Martin Elias Lomuro received a total of Sh49.43 million as forex reversal. Of this amount, Sh46.20 million was from his USSD account,” it says.

    The investigative office concluded, “That there are reasonable grounds to believe that the bank accounts of the respondent were used as conduits of illicit financial flows and money laundering”.

  • FRC to use second-hand car dealers in the war against money laundering

    FRC to use second-hand car dealers in the war against money laundering

    Dealers in second-hand cars will now be forced to reveal the identity of their buyers and sources of their income in the latest move aimed at crushing money laundering syndicates.

    The Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) is determined to lay out a legal framework that will compel all car dealers to report all transactions exceeding Sh1 million and even smaller suspicious payments.

    The proposal that is only awaiting approval by the Cabinet and Parliament will have second-hand car dealers designated as non-financial reporting institutions together with real estate agents, accountants and gambling joints like casinos.

    FRC boss Saitoti ole Maika said that report by a high-powered anti-money laundering task force on risk assessment uncovered that second-hand car industry make transactions worth millions without questioning the source of the buyer’s money.

    Investigations have shown that the second hand-car industry is a hotbed of money laundering where customers spending more than Sh1 million simply walk-in to buy or make deposits with the balance being settled in installments.

    “Our intention is to mine data on people buying cars from the dealers.” said Mr Maika.

    The new rule will have dealers of used cars obligated to disclose details of their buyers including names, addresses, date of birth, ID number, occupation and date of transaction.

    The second -hand car industry is 90% of the market share accounting for about Sh70 billion every year but FRC reckons that the industry is flooded with drug dealers and fraudsters who buy cars often in cash and then sell them to clean proceeds of dirty dealings.

    “Car dealers have a big challenge because it is an industry that’s not regulated. Other than the NTSA issuing permit prescribing them as second-hand dealers, it is more or less unregulated.” Mr Maika said.

    The move by the FRC comes at a time when the  country is looking for mechanisms to add more businesses and professions to the list of entities obligated to play a watch dog role on money laundering.

    Designated entities will be required to submit to the FRC an annual compliance report by January 31 of the following year. The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act (Procamla) requires the designated institutions  to report any suspicious or unusual transaction to the FRC .

     

     

  • How Kenya became a money laundering haven

    How Kenya became a money laundering haven

    Kenya is now ranked among countries with rampant money laundering and financial crimes in the world after a report tabled before the US Congress exposed the country’s vulnerability through the increased use  of mobile money transfer platforms, the hawala system of banking and Trade Based Money Laundering.

    The report is part of the annual International Narcotics Control Strategy tabled before the US Congress to monitor the countries most affected by the vice and initiate measures to curb illicit financial transactions that aide criminal and terror activities.

    Kenya is now ranked among top money laundering countries in the world with diaspora remittances totaling up to Sh178 billion between January and August 2020 including proceeds of narcotics trade.

    The report also showed that dirty money has continued to circulate in the world despite the negative effects COVID-19 has had on economies across the world with many ravaged, shut or seriously slowed.

    “Criminals not only continued to perpetrate traditional financial crimes, but devised new ways to exploit the pandemic through counterfeiting essential goods and telephone and email scams promoting health or medical products,” the report read in part.

    Kenya is listed among other notorious African countries including Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, Tanzania, Liberia and Benin. The list also has the United States, UK, Colombia, Cyprus, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, India and Cayman Islands.

    The continuous flow of illicit money is majorly aided by corruption in many parts of the world, lack of political will, ineffective institutions and inefficient anti-money laundering laws.

    Kenya remains exposed to money laundering and terror financing in the East African region since it became a pioneer in mobile money transfer that has been used abused to finance terror activities. Weaker laws also maker it possible to infiltrate formal and informal channels through cybercrime, corruption, wildlife trafficking and smuggling of illicit drugs, counterfeits and illegal timber trade.

    The proximity of the country with war torn Somalia is also attracting laundering of piracy-related proceeds with a thriving miraa and charcoal trade that is unregulated. The Central Bank of Kenya has also failed in ensuring that all financial transactions above one million are flagged.

     

  • How Mombasa Hospital And Bank Of India Stole Sh15 Million From A British Octogenerian In Coma

    How Mombasa Hospital And Bank Of India Stole Sh15 Million From A British Octogenerian In Coma

    Mombasa Hospital has been alleged of swindling Sh15M through Bank Of India from Jeremy Franklin a British octogenarian who’s admitted at the facility after suffering stroke.

    At the centre of this alleged medical fraud is BOI’s Mombasa branch manager Manoj Kumar. Kumar is alleged to be in charge of a thorny scheme that wants to sweep clean the old Britons account at the bank. BOI is, without Franklin’s or his partner in the joint account consent are settling Jeremy’s inflated and non-transparent medical bills from Mombasa hospital where he has been in a coma for the last two and a half years.

    On July 12, 2017, the now 80year-old British citizen Jeremy Franklin was hustled to Mombasa hospital after he suffered a stroke. Later, was admitted in the ICU for a week. Franklin’s goose started cooking when he was transferred to Mombasa Hospital’s private wing run by Dr Swaleh Bukhet.

    Jeremy, who has since remained in a coma and his situation worsening every day while at the facility, the hospital remains the beneficiaries of his 30+ months coma. According to medical invoices at the Mombasa hospital, Jerremy’s medical bill was flying at Sh21 million by the start of October.

    When Jeremy’s guardian Said Omar, who brought him at the Mombasa hospital and has been responsible for his care including payment of bills requested for a medical report, BOI’s and Mombasa Hospital’s management permanently blocked him and thwarted his plans to seek alternative treatment for the almost dying Brit elsewhere.

    Omar had to seek court order through Kithi and Company advocates after Mombasa Hospital’s head of security Mr Omani under instructions of the hospital’s administrator Abbas Nasser blocked him from accessing medical files and Jeremy’s patient room.
    In what clearly looks like a masterminded medical fraud, BOI has, after Omar being blocked by Mombasa hospital, also blocked Omar from accessing the joint bank account he operated together with the now unconscious Brit.
    Omar also states that he was only shown medical invoices from Mombasa Hospital which indicated that the account has already covered
    more than Sh15 million of the skyrocketing Jeremy’s hospital bills.

    Kadima and Company Advocates on behalf of Omar on July 22 2019, wrote to Bank of India alerting them their client’s intention to sue the bank for blocking him from accessing to the joint account without logical explanations.

    On the other side, Kithi and Company Advocates have also sent a demand letter to Mombasa Hospital on behalf of Omar warning that unless the hospital produces Jerremy’s medical report, he will seek for the court’s intervention.

    “Kindly note that our client has been the informal guardian of his patient in your facility since July 2017 to date… Until recently, our client (Omar) was not able to discharge his duties pertinent to the patient’s care at your hospital with ease. However, the bank has of late frustrated our client’s seamless discharge of duties and thus will refer his predicament to the courts of law,” the lawyer’s letter dated September 23, 2019, to Mombasa hospital read in part.

    Our sources also reveal that Manoj Kumar, BOI’s Mombasa branch manager upon realising that the patient’s joint account contained millions of shillings, he together with Dr Swaleh Buketi, Administrator Abbass Nasser and others are scheming to hold the Octogenarian at the facility in a coma until his Bank Of India accounts are drained.

    Jeremy Franklin, a historical researcher, born in 1939 at Belfast, England has been living in  Kenya for the past three decades. He’s registered under British passport number 517899566.

    Also implicated in the mess is Sharda Rai, Bank Of India’s CEO who has not only been racially abusing and underpaying Kenyan staff at the bank but also alleged to giving unsecured loans to Indian golden customers. Sharda has also been alleged to, through the bank, aiding Indians in Kenya engage in inside loans trading and money laundering to India.

    Kenyan investigative agencies should follow this lead and act as soon as now. Also, the British High Commissioner in Kenya Jane Marriot should come to Jeremy’s rescue before the old man dies a poor foreigner in Kenya.

  • DCI Ambush At Plan 254 Nabs $1M Fake Currency And Fake Gold Bars

    DCI Ambush At Plan 254 Nabs $1M Fake Currency And Fake Gold Bars

    Kenya’s anti-crime watchdogs and vicious anti-graft sleuths from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have raided Plan 254 Club in Kilimani, Nairobi.

    According to preliminary reports from media sources speaking to the DCI, the raid found fake $1 M, 147 fake gold bars and the sleuths also nabbed flamboyant personality Stephen Mark Oduk, the owner of the club and is currently being held at the Parklands Police Station.

    Image result for plan 254 kilimani
    Photo|RMS

    A raid conducted at Plan 254 Club on Nyangumi Road also unearthed 3000 black U.S. dollars. The black notes were in denominations of $100 and were discovered alongside four portable safes that were locked.

    According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Oduk is set to be arraigned on Thursday.

     

    Early this month, police arrested a man with fake currencies worth Ksh.200million in Kileleshwa. According to the DCI, Bobby Kariuki, 27, was found with fake U.S. dollars, Euros and Pounds.

    And on May 20 this year, detectives probing a fake gold scam raided a residential area in Riara where they discovered a smelting centre. DCI George Kinoti revealed that once melted into ingots, the metal with insignificant gold content was being used to lure unsuspecting businessmen.

    He said they have solid leads on suspects involved in the fake gold racket in Kilimani, some of whom are influential businessmen, lawyers, and judicial officers.

    More follows

  • TRENDING: Victoria Commercial Bank Owner Yogesh Pattni On The Spot Over Money Laundering In Kenya

    TRENDING: Victoria Commercial Bank Owner Yogesh Pattni On The Spot Over Money Laundering In Kenya

    According to a whistleblower site cnyakundi.com, a blog that has been exposing and following closely the case of Victoria Commercial Bank owner Yogesh Pattni who, according to the chief editor of the site, has been accused of alleged massive fraud and scam deals and in this case study, money laundering in the Republic of Kenya.

    Kanji D. Pattni

    Kanji D. Pattni is a founder member of Victoria Commercial Bank. According to the Banks website, Kanji Pattni has been part of the team of visionaries that established the bank from a finance company back in 1987. With over 30 years’ experience in banking, Mr. Pattni has steered the Board of Directors as Chairman since its inception until mid-2018, a time that the current embattled CEO Yogesh Pattni took over.

    Dr. Yogesh Pattni, according to the bank’s website, has a proven executive management record with over 30 years’ experience in banking. He started his banking career with Equatorial Commercial Bank (ECB) Ltd thereafter moving to Uhuru’s owned Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA).

    In a series of articles from the chief editor of the whistleblower site cnyakundi.com, Victoria Commercial Bank CEO Yogesh Pattni has turned upside down the past good deeds and books of the Indian owned bank and is threatening the existence of the bank.

    According to the whistleblower, the alleged Money laundering scandals at the bank are so serious that they run Chopri, a parallel bank in the Indian Bank. The husband and wife have allegedly perfected the art of mobilizing for funds from people according to cnyakundi.com.

    Further reports had indicated that the Central Bank of Kenya was investigating the parallel bank after receiving complaints that some depositors had not been repaid. Mr. Yogesh who likes to publicly bad-mouth Kenya has allegedly bought another citizenship for a huge sum and has not declared himself a dual national over here which is illegal, cnyakundi.com said it can reveal.

    The whistleblower Chief editor also alleged that they are probing further reports that Yogesh Pattni may be dealing with arms dealers, drug barons and the likes of Ali Punjani, who is wanted by Kenyan authorities over his deep links to Narcotics in Kenya’s coast of Mombasa and Vicky Goswami who all are enjoying private asylum in India, their country of birth.

    The embattled CEO, Yogesh Pattni knows and understands the corrupt Kenyan system very well, and always evades punishment despite the weight of his crimes just like we have seen his close allies do without any form or even shreds of fear.

    On 11th September this year, the editor of whistleblower blog supposedly confirmed that the Republic of India had revoked Victoria Commercial bank owner Yogesh Pattni’s passports sometimes back in the year 2018, almost immediately when he took over as the CEO, over money laundering and fraud. His children’s passports were also revoked according to the website.

    The current wife that Yogesh Pattni is linked to is not his first wife. According to cnyakundi.com, Yogesh Pattni is a divorcee. The CEO’s first wife is called Shilpa Pattni. She was brought up in an ordinary family in Mombasa and was married off to Yogesh Pattni, CEO Victoria Commercial Bank at a young age.

    Yogesh’s ex-wife and Interior Designer Shilpa Pattni (In white blouse) with Software consultant Sue Ajden, Embassy of the Republic of Iraq permanent rep to the UNEP Burhan Jaf

    Shilpa Pattni supported him for many years, looked after his parents and brought home beautiful children for him from India through adoption. Tried to give him every happiness in the world but was abandoned for his office worker Azmina Janmohamed in a second. After the divorce Shilpa and the two, separately adopted Indian children moved to Cape Town South Africa.

    According to the whistleblower, Yogesh Pattni adopted both of the children. The children who since their dad was implicated in all these money laundering fraud cases lost their Indian passports, Suraj and Sonia Pattni, are adopted from India. They are not biological brothers and sister and were adopted at the time Yogesh was married to Shilpa. Suraj Pattni is currently studying at IE University, Kingston Upon Thames, United Kingdom, and Sonia is with her adoptive mother Shilpa in South Africa.

    Left to right: Yogesh Pattni, Azmina Pattni with Jayshree Mawjee of Travellers Forex Bureau The Mall Westlands and Karen.

    On the other side, Azmina Pattni, the secretary turned wife, used to be known as Azmina Janmohamed and was just an employee with high ambitions to get rich quickly even if it meant breaking a home. Azmina Pattni used to be a simple administrative assistant in the bank for many years and had an affair with Yogesh Pattni causing Yogesh’s divorce with his wife Shilpa Pattni.

    Bipin and Jayshree Mawjee are major players in the money-laundering system. Both of them are very close associates of Yogesh Pattni and Ali Punjani, according to the whistleblower. They own Jade Valley in Grevillea Grove together. They were living there as neighbors for many years before buying out the development together. Bipin’s older sister Indira is married to Yogesh’s older brother Arvind Pattni and they live in Perth Australia.

    After the whistleblower blogger broke the news of the money laundering allegations on his blog, social media users pushed the bank to address money laundering, fraud and corruption allegations that have faced the controversial bank. Netizens were pushing their message under the hashtag #YogeshPattniUnmasked. Here are sample tweets from the trending Hashtag and social media campaign

    https://twitter.com/Nichonasri1/status/1173939130704846848?s=20

    https://twitter.com/MsGee006/status/1173931928560558081?s=20

    https://twitter.com/SenMoturi/status/1173945923275300864?s=20

    A close source also told the whistleblower that Yogesh’s passport and those of his children were revoked because they are a threat to national security, hence wanted. It is is not very clear why the children and wife are denied entry too but it looks like India is strict just like the USA.

    The United States has a specific law, which dispenses sanctions to husbands and wives in equal measure. Proclamation 7750—To Suspend Entry as Immigrants or Nonimmigrants of Persons Engaged In or Benefiting From Corruption was signed by George W. Bush on January 12th, 2004. It was designed to curtail entry to those who have been designated as aiding and abetting corruption around the world.
    The Proclamation targets those deemed as corrupt, including their wives, children, and dependents. It reads in part;

    After the social media campaign, Victoria Commercial Bank board was forced to have a meeting and discuss the information circulating online about the inside underground dealings that might be passing just below some board members nose without knowing a damn thing.

    On 18th of September 2019, Yogesh Pattni, the CEO of the besieged bank issued a statement that specifically blamed the editor cnyakundi.com citing that the whistleblower has been sued severally on allegation of posting defamatory articles on his blog. He said  ” The unsubstantiated claims and accusations designated to mislead the general public are completely false, treacherous and libelous.” 

    On his rebuttal, the whistleblower stated that he is committed just like before to making sure that through his blog cnyakundi.com, remains the public defender number one. He is on record that his work has made him go through hell in this country that every other prominent person takes genuine and honest work as a threat. Through his slogan, WE ARE THEM, Cyprian Nyakundi says he will not be bullied or forced to dine with crooks and cartels that loot and live happily on common citizens sweat and those that suffer every day trying to earn an honest coin to change their miserable lives.

    Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, sitting
    Senior Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi

    The whistleblower went ahead and quoted his notable work that has been consistent over the past few years. “Despite the negativity projected on bloggers by those who feel threatened by it, we forged ahead with our programs knowing full well that truth is the ultimate weapon. In 2016, We launched a concerted campaign against Vivienne Yeda Apopo, who was behind the mismanagement of East African Development Bank (EADB) which caught the attention of respective decision-makers, hence a probe on her.” Reads part of a blog from Cyprian Nyakundi.

    “We launched a successful campaign against the former CEO of Family Bank Peter Munyiri, who was arraigned in court, regarding his role in facilitating and enabling the NYS heist by among others, Anne Waiguru. We successfully petitioned Safaricom to refund monies stolen from them using the Cheza Games scam. The projects which were conjured by Peter Arina spilled over into the Bob Collymore era and corruption is firmly entrenched in the company. We also successfully instigated and precipitated the sacking of the CFO of Safaricom after we exclusively leaked the KPMG audit report.” The whistleblower adds.

    “Through my site, I  exclusively covered the corruption at the National Bank of Kenya, and despite a defamation lawsuit filed by the then CEO Munir Ahmed and the Board chair Mohammed Hassan we kept exposing till the whole management had to go. These are some of the defamation cases Yogesh is using to argue his case, to his customers who we believe are wise to read between the lines. The scandal at Kenya Pipeline Company started getting coverage, after our persistent coverage, exerting pressure on mainstream media to execute their mandate, as the perception that they are paid to kill stories is starting to hurt their bottom line.” Nyakundi explained in details. 

    Due to the good work the editor of this site did by exposing corruption at HF Group, there has been a massive sacking of almost the entire EXCO. The following have been the casualties of his fact-filled articles.

    1. Frank Ireri- Group MD
    2. Samuel Mwaniki Waweru- HFC Bank M.D.
    3. James Karanja- Executive Director HFC
    4. Caroline Armstrong- Director of Special Projects
    5. Patrick Mokaya- Director of Business Development
    6. Peter Ng’ang’a- Director Treasury
    7. James Karanja- Executive Director HFDI
    8. Ben Lanya- GM Human Resource
    9. Francis Theuri- GM Branch Business

    I am of an opinion that the Jubilee government has been taking over 50millions of Kenyans on a wild bluff ride that they are fighting corruption yet, the same corrupt individuals have worked directly and indirectly with the State. Where is DCI? Where is EACC? In fact, where is this system we call a working government? It even pains much to see that some of these corrupt folks are the ones sponsoring major State projects and politicians. I mean, this way, Kenya can’t fight corruption because, clearly as it is from my point of view, CORRUPTION itself owns Kenya.