The NYS 1 and 2 scandals are still fresh in Kenyans’ mind. Has the state done any recovery of the billions lost, following the arrests that were made? Well, the state has recovered assets worth Sh3 billion, the proceeds of corruption and money laundering from NYS, Youth Fund and KRA.
The assets include cars and houses.
Yesterday, Attorney General Kihara Kariuki said about 700 corruption cases are in court.
“We are continuing with financial investigations into the NYS case. The recovered assets have been returned to the state,” Kihara said in a speech read on his behalf by Assets Recovery Agency director Muthoni Kimani.
The speech was read at an anti-money laundering and asset recovery workshop at Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi.
Some Sh500 million has been recovered from NYS scandal 1 in which more than Sh800 million was lost in 2015.
Another Sh2 billion has been repossessed from the second scam at the agency where Sh2.5 billion is believed to have been swindled.
“We have recovered an apartment which we confirmed was acquired by money stolen from Youth Fund but we can say this was a clear case of money laundering because the value of the property does not match the money paid,” Kimani said.
The agency has also frozen several bank accounts both locally and abroad. This followed the signing of legal mutual assistance agreements with several governments to recover looted cash stashed in offshore accounts.
Last year, the government signed LMA with United Kingdom, Switzerland and Jersey to recover and return to Kenya stolen assets hidden abroad.
The workshop hosted by Conference of Western Attorneys General Africa Alliance Partnership in collaboration with the office of the Attorney General in Kenya.
“We do not wait for the criminal processes to be concluded. So long as we have received intelligence that a property was acquired through illicit money, then we move in and seize it as DCI deals with the criminal cases in court,” Kimani said.
Kihara said the establishment the National Task Force on Anti-Money Laundering in 2015 has strengthened the war against graft.
The agency is responsible for arrests and prosecutions.The task force is chaired by the National Treasury, with members including the AG and representatives from the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), law enforcement agencies and institutions in the private sector.