The Anti-Corruption High Court has torn into the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA), dismissing a KSh 35 million forfeiture suit after finding that investigators simply copied earlier affidavits and relied on “desk investigations” instead of hard evidence.
Justice Benjamin Musyoki’s judgment, delivered on June 20 but made public on Tuesday, says ARA’s filings “still talk of preservation orders” even though the case had advanced to the final forfeiture stage, proof that paragraphs were lifted wholesale from older matters.
“It should be detestable for the applicant to conduct what I would call desk investigations and expect to fight money-laundering,” Musyoki ruled.
The judge highlighted at least three glaring errors: references to non-existent cash withdrawals, recycled wording about “huge suspicious deposits” and a template paragraph pasted without updating case details.
How the Suit Collapsed
East Africa Group Ltd (EAGL) had US$274,369 (≈ KSh 35.46 m) frozen at I&M Bank. ARA alleged the funds were proceeds of crime wired from abroad.
EAGL’s director Nduwimana Aimable produced World Bank documents showing the cash came from a US$5 million Burundi road-works contract, yet the agency “made no effort” to verify the explanation through mutual legal assistance, the court found.
Advocate Ndegwa Njiru, who represents Odiero, welcomed Musyoki’s broadside. “ARA keeps shifting the goalposts and wrecking reputations,” he said outside Milimani court.
Pattern of Sloppy Probes
In April the same judge rejected a bid to seize KSh 40 m from a Somali diplomat, faulting investigators for “repeating allegations verbatim with no corroboration.”
ARA can appeal Musyoki’s ruling, but until then, the judge has ordered the frozen funds released to EAGL immediately.
