The Standard Gauge Railway ticketing scandal seem to get more interesting as the days go by with more revelations made with each day that passes ever since the arrests were made.
The Chinese government through it’s Chinese Embassy in Kenya has now weighed in on the matter after it’s three nationals were yesterday remanded for more days with a ruling on their bail application expected tomorrow (Wednesday)
The Chinese Embassy in Kenya has already sent its officers to check on the three detained nationals charged with bribery at a Mombasa court.
Li Gen, Li Xiaowu and Sun Xin are charged with jointly offering a Sh500,000 bribe to an inspector for favour in an investigation on claims of fraud at the standard gauge railway terminus in Miritini.
In a statement to newsrooms on Monday, the embassy said it hopes Kenyan authorities protect the legal rights and interests of the employees of the China Roads and Bridges Corporation.
According to the charge sheets, the three offered the money to inspector Andrew Warui and his team.
The accused faced two other counts of offering a Sh200,000 bribe.
“It is our hope that the truth will be found out as soon as possible through objective and fair investigations,” the embassy said.
“The embassy has urged the Africa Star Railway Operation Company to actively cooperate with Kenyan authorities in investigating [the matter]. The company has also been required to take effective measures to enhance its management and ensure operation in conformance with laws and regulations,” the statement said.
“As always, the embassy will render full support to the SGR operation team to provide high standard services.”
The accused were arrested last week by detectives of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on claims that they attempted to bribe officers of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The DCI is looking into reports of manipulation in ticketing, that is said to be part of a multi-million-shilling ticketing fraud, in the case over which four Kenyans were also arrested. The Kenyans are also employees of the CRBC.
Multiple sources have confirmed that the ticketing scam that involved manipulating the complex booking system operated by CRBC staff to split the ticket revenues between the Chinese railway operator and the cartel of insiders had been going on for a long time.
According to an insider, one aspect of the scheme under investigation involved creating refunds for tickets already issued to passengers on board for each of the four trips and channelling the refunds elsewhere.
Kenya Railways officials are said to have raised the red flag over an unusually high number of refunds, triggering an investigation that is likely to unearth millions of shillings in lost revenue since President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the service on June 1, 2017.
Intense monitoring revealed that the passengers who had allegedly been refunded were indeed inside the train ready to travel.
Is the Chinese Government in order to offer support to it’s three accused nationals?