Government Goes After Sh100 Million Seized from Nigerian National at JKIA

The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) has moved to court seeking to have Sh100 million seized from a Nigerian national last week frozen.

Mauzu Bala was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi on Friday en route to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Nigeria.

He had stashed the money, which was in form of United States dollars, Euros, and Naira, in a suitcase.

In a case filed in court, ARA says there are reasons to believe that the money may be proceeds of crime obtained from a complex money-laundering scheme.

"His failure to declare that he was carrying such a huge amount of documents to support the legitimacy of the cash, raises suspicion of money laundering," court documents read.

Court documents indicate that the cash was meant for business in Dubai but Bala lacked documents to support the source, purpose, and movement of the millions.

The 880,000 US dollars, 63,000 Nigerian Naira, and 60,000 Euros are currently being held by Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka.

ARA has asked the court to issue an order compelling Kilavuka to surrender the money to the authority.