At least four charges are awaiting individuals, including top Government officials found culpable by investigators to have opened loopholes to the loss of more than Ksh 21 billion awarded to an Italian contractor. The charges include conspiracy to commit an economic crime, aiding the commission of an economic crime, abuse of office and negligence of official duty.
Detectives who had left the country to meet with SACE officials were handed a copy of the insurance agreement written in Italian hence forcing them to seek the services of interpreters.
“Expect action soon. We have interpreted all that we had and we are ready,” said an official aware of the progress of the case.
The chilling details in the documents reveal that SACE charged 17.5 per cent of the loan amount as premium when industry rates averaged 1.5 per cent.
Experts have said Kenya paid 15 times over the fair rate to the Italian Government-owned credit insurer for insuring the loans procured from a consortium of banks led by Intesa San Paolo.
A breakdown of the insurance premiums paid to SACE showed the price for the Arror Multipurpose Dam project was Sh6.1 billion while another Sh5 billion was paid against the Kimwarer Multipurpose Dam.
The Cabinet Secretary also acknowledged that he released Sh7.8 billion to KVDA for onward transmission to CMC di Ravenna, the contractor, as advance payment to help kick-start the project.
Some of the investigation files had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before being returned to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to have the new information appended.
In the Arror dam case, detectives say, an advance payment of Sh4.5 billion was made. Another Sh6.1 billion was paid to an Italian insurance firm, SACE S.p.A, and a commitment fee of Sh490 million was also paid, making it a total of Sh11.1 billion.
For Kimwarer dam, the detectives established that Sh4.99 billion had been made as advance payment.
Another Sh3.5 billion was paid as a commitment fee, while the same Italian insurance company received Sh418 million, making it a total of Sh8.9 billion.
The DCI officers also established that Sh900 million has been spent as compensation for land acquired for the projects.
According to its website, SACE S.p.A. provides a range of insurance and financial products in Italy and other countries.