A dawn raid was carried out on Thika town last week where police arrested the production manager of Africa Spirits Ltd over illegal ethanol and fake Kenya Revenue Authority stamps found during an inspection.
The undercover operation codenamed “Mamma Mia” revealed the world of Kenya’s most secluded billionaire.
The 11am operation included Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet and KRA’s commissioner of Intelligence and Strategic Operations, Mr Githii Mburu.
The Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti seek to know how the firm has been smuggling ethanol from Tanzania and sourcing the fake stamps in the plant which has since been closed pending the conclusion of the investigations.
Detectives made what they said was a dazzling find: An estimated 21 million counterfeit excise stamps and 312,000 litres of illicit products — all worth billions of shillings in taxes.
Mr Kariuki’s Africa Spirits Limited is now under police watch — and by last evening, detectives were still looking for him.
Africa Spirits is only a small part of Mr Kariuki’s multibillion empire — all under the name of a holding company, Janus Continental Group and which encompasses all that a billionaire would want: A five-star luxurious Mt Kenya Safari Club originally a retreat to famous Hollywood stars such as William Holden — who founded the club.
Its members once included British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US singer and actor Harry Bing Crosby.
The name Janus is significant in one critical way — and for such an empire.
Janus, which means “the beginning and origin of things”, is an ancient two-faced Roman god who provided protection in the beginnings and endings “at the gates, the doorways, and passages and endings”.
As a god, Janus had the uncanny ability to see both in front and behind; thanks to his being a two-faced god.
But when detectives raided one of Janus’ establishments in Thika — it seemed that the protection against any nosy raid on Janus properties had vanished; at the tail-end of January (which ironically stands for the month of Janus).
Mr Kariuki ventured into wines and spirits distributorship in his late 20s, through Wines of the World Limited as the distributor for Jack Daniels, Bacardi and the Edrington Group, whose premium brands include The Macallan, The Famous Grouse, and Brugal rum.
Later on, he started building his own factory in 2002 with the brand Blue Moon Vodka manufactured by Africa Spirits Limited – the company that was raided by detectives.
“I’m proud to say that Africa Spirits Limited is the most successful indigenous alcoholic beverage company in Kenya today,” he had said two years ago.
But the big break came after he was introduced to South Sudan wheeler-dealers and he managed to strike multimillion-dollar oil and construction deals.
“The margins were astronomical. The volumes weren’t much, but the margins were crazy,” he told Forbes.
It was this period that he built the Hub shopping mall in Karen and also bought Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki.
Besides the current raid on his factory, Mr Kariuki’s efforts to get an exclusive license to import and distribute 214 premium wine and spirit brands including Bacardi-Martini labels has been thwarted by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) this year.
The Wines of the World wanted to enter exclusive distribution agreements with various alcohol manufacturers.
The current turn of events is yet another twist in the life of a man — so wealthy; and so reclusive — who provides wild animals with a place to call home at his Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and Animal Orphanage.