Bank Accounts of Two Kenyan Women Who Received Sh113 Million from a Foreigner as Gifts Frozen

The High Court has ordered the freezing of Sh113 million held in bank accounts belonging to two young Kenyan women. 

The two were identified as Tebby Wambuku Kago and Felesta Nyamathira Njoroge, who had another account with Sh102 million frozen last month.

On Tuesday, Justice Esther Maina allowed the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) to preserve the funds in the accounts belonging to the two women for 90 days pending the completion of investigations.

ARA believes the money held in three accounts at Equity Bank and Stanbic Bank are proceeds of crime and that the two women are part of a complex money-laundering scheme involving foreigners.

The money includes Sh71 million and Sh37 million held in two Equity bank accounts belonging to Wambuku and Sh5 million held at Stanbic Bank account registered under the name of Nyamathira.

Wambuku is said to have received Sh37 million in November this year in a single transaction from a foreign national named De Mesel Marc, who indicated the cash as a gift to her.

ARA says preliminary investigations established that the two suspects executed a complex scheme of money laundering designed to conceal, disguise the nature, source, disposition, and movement of the illicit funds, suspected to constitute proceeds of crime.

“A preliminary analysis of the bank statement for account number 1750180591737 (USD) held at Equity Bank Limited in the name of Wambuku has established that the account received a cumulative sum of USD 909,900 in four structured transactions in the month of August 2021 in one day,” investigating officer Fredrick Musyoki says in an affidavit.

Last month, ARA obtained an order to freeze Sh102 million held in Nyamathira’s account at Co-operative Bank.

Judge Esther Maina allowed the agency to freeze the account for 90 days pending the conclusion of investigations.

Nyamathira, a 21-year-old student at Nairobi Technical Institute (NTTI), claims to have received the millions as a gift from her Belgian boyfriend Merc De Mesel.

Authorities established that the money was deposited in the account in four transactions between August 4th and August 6th, 2021. 

Nyamathira has since filed an application seeking the unfreezing of the account.