A Nairobi Technical Institute student whose Bank account, containing Ksh102 million was frozen, has now moved to court to seek orders to access the said funds.
Felista Nyamathira Njoroge wants the court to set aside the orders issued on November 17, 2021, that froze her bank account for 90 days saying she has the right to engage in business and develop relationships as enshrined in the Constitution.
Through her lawyer, Thomas Maosa, the 21-year-old college student accuses ARA of malice saying the agency did not seek any explanation from her regarding the funds in her account.
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She claims the Assets Recovery Agency painted her in bad light by issuing press releases, yet no papers had been served to her.
ARA applied to have Njoroge’s account frozen after suspecting that the millions were proceeds of money laundering. It has since been established that amounts were in separate dates sent to her account by Belgian businessman Marc De Mesel, who is said to be her boyfriend.
The Belgian, a cryptocurrency billionaire, had indicated in the declaration documents that Njoroge was free to use the money on anything she wished to do.
The agency, in court documents, claimed that it had asked Njoroge to shed light on the source of the money, but she instead referred them to her lawyers who did not offer sufficient explanation.
Njoroge, however in her application claims she is not engaged in any financial and unfair practices and the attempts by ARA to link her to the provisions of the anti-money laundering act 2009 is purely malicious.
“The respondent (ARA) obtained sweeping and radical orders against me without making any material disclosure as to whether financial due process was not adhered to in the transfer of funds to me,” she says in an affidavit.
It is her contention that the ARA’s application is speculative and the same has no regard to any economic rights as enshrined in the constitution.
“This honorable Court is a Court of Justice and law and it should not be used to assist the Respondent in interfering with my rights,” she said in court documents.
Justice Esther Maina of Anti-Corruption High court directed the application to be heard December 8.
