After battling behind bars for close to 34 days following charges facing him over the murder of his girlfriend Sharon Otieno, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) came at Migori governor Okoth Obado’s neck.
Do you know that the Migori County boss may find himself in the dock over graft a case? Well, the anti-graft agency has extended the corruption probe against him and his alleged proxies beyond Kenyan borders.
According to the Star, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission says that months to last polls, Obado and his children travelled to Australia carrying Sh450 million.
In Australia, Obado laundered the money at a high-end casino, the agency says. Immigration rules require travellers in possession of currency exceeding Sh1 million to declare it at customs office before departure.
EACC says Obado changed the cash allegedly looted from the county coffers into Australian dollars at Crown Towers Casino.
“The commission has sufficient information that on February 19, 2017, the governor and his children travelled to Australia while in possession of USD45,000 believed to have been fraudulently acquired from the county and laundered the money into AUD57,646 at Crown Towers Casino, Perth Western Australia,” EACC says
“The commission is in contact with the law enforcement agencies in Australia for related investigations.”
Details of how the EACC got the information remain scant. It also does not make it clear whether the governor was gambling at Crown Towers Casino, a facility that prides itself in, among other things, VIP gaming.
Perth is one of Australia’s eight capital cities and the fourth-most populous city in Australia.
The Eliud Wabukhala-led agency says Obado and his associates registered about 30 firms soon after he became governor, through which they pocketed Sh2.5 billion in “fictitious” contracts.
In separate documents, the EACC says it’s pursuing millions stashed abroad by Obado’s alleged proxy Jared Peter Odoyo Oluoch Kwaga.
In a bid to conceal cash corruptly acquired from thecounty government of Migori through fictitious tenders, Kwaga transferred Sh55,224,977 to offshore financial institutions in China and HongKong, it says.
Kwaga, his wife, two brothers, mother and sister in-law are among seven individuals, alongside 16 firms, the EACC is pursuing to refund Sh2 billion allegedly obtained through fictitious deals.
On Tuesday last week, the High Court issued orders barring the seven from selling or transferring 65 properties, including four maisonettes, two apartments and land — all valued at more than Sh382 million.
The four maisonettes and two apartments, all in Kwaga’s name, are in Nairobi.
In what the EACC believes is irrefutable proof linking Obado to the dubious firms, proceeds from the contentious tender awards were wired to his children’s accounts.
The commission says Obado benefitted to the tune of Sh38,949,376 sent to his children believed to be studying abroad. They are Dan Ochola Okoth, Jerry Zachary Okoth and Susan Scarlet Okoth. With all these probe the EACC has launched against Obado, he may find himself behind bars again, with now two cases before him. Today, he is hosting Deputy President William Ruto who is touring the counties of Homa Bay and Migori to launch development projects. Will the DP come into Obado’s rescue?
