A man at the centre of a Barclays Bank safe box in which police said they found Sh20 billion in fake cash now wants the cash produced in court.
Mr Erick Otieno Adede, a lawyer and an international consultant, wants the Director of Criminal Investigations compelled to present the contents of the safe box in court, saying the $20 million he stored in the box was genuine.
As the account holder of the seized safe box since November 25, 2017, Mr Adede, who vied once for Gor Mahia chairmanship, alleges the DCI is illegally holding sums of monies which do not form part of charges he is facing.
“It is just and equitable that the applicant be heard on a priority basis so that his grievances be remedied without delay,” said his lawyer Martin Oloo.
Mr Adede was arrested on March 19, alongside traders Mohamed Ejaz alias Shah, Mary Wanjiru Mwangi alias Elizabeth Muthoni and Irene Wairimu Kimani.
They all faced a joint charge of conspiring to defraud businessman Mr Muriithi Materi Mbuthia of Sh20 million at the bank’s Queensway branch, while pretending to be investors.
He pleaded not guilty to allegations that police found $20, 067,900 as fake money and 41.373 kilogrammes of brass at the bank.
He was freed on a Sh1 million cash bail and the rest on a cash bail of Sh300, 000 each.
The criminal case is set to begin on May 9.