The Anti-Corruption Court sitting in Nairobi has for the second time freed three former government officials and two businessmen linked to the Ksh3.5 billion Anglo Leasing scandal for lack of evidence.
Trial magistrate Felix Kombo on Friday, January 19, 2024, set free former permanent secretaries Dave Mwangi, Joseph Magari, and former senior treasury employee David Onyonka, businessmen Deepak and Rashmi Kamani saying the prosecution failed to prove the multiple corruption charges facing them.
In his ruling on a case to answer, Kombo acquitted all accused persons saying that there was no sufficient evidence to warrant the court to place them on their defence.
“Having examined the evidence presented in court, I have concluded that the prosecution has failed to prove a case against the accused warranting to put them on their defence and therefore acquit them for lack of evidence,” Kombo ruled.
All of them were facing charges of conspiracy to defraud the government through the multi-billion shilling Anglo-Leasing contract for the modernization of police security equipment and accessories.
The prosecution alleged that between October 30, 2003, and April 14, 2004, the accused persons conspired with others to engage in a scheme to defraud the government of Kenya Ksh3.5 billion through a suppliers credit contract agreement for the modernisation of the Police Security Equipment and Accessories project.
They were accused of conspiring to defraud the government through the computerisation of police projects by failing to comply with procurement rules and engaging in the project without proper planning.
The state had further accused them of unlawfully acquiring Ksh121 million to modernize police surveillance systems.
The court had been told that the Anglo-leasing project had been approved by the Cabinet to boost security in the country.
The charges were a culmination of over 10 years of investigations since the Anglo Leasing scandal came to public light.
In his decision magistrate Kombo said there were glaring contradictions and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case and opined that perhaps the suspects had been charged “selectively” after “those who were intimate with the procedures were like the former internal security PS Dr Chris Murungaru, former AG Amos Wako and his assistance Dorcas Achapa were never dragged to court to face trial.
Kombo found the assertion by the prosecution that Sounday Incorporation the company that was the centre of the tender for supply of police equipment was non-existent was farfetched as it had a long history of dealings with the Government of Kenya (GoK) since 1993.
"The submission by the state that the company in question was a shell company used to siphon money from the government lacked evidence and there is nothing to show that there was a conspiracy between its owners and the rest of the accused in the case,” he said.
He said documents presented in court showed Sound Day was a registered company that was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands on September 21, 1989.
According to the magistrate, the procurement procedures for the police accessories were properly followed and the budget allocation for the project was in order.
"I find that the project was in order having perused the evidence brought to court that proved that due diligence and procurement procedures were followed," the magistrate ruled.
“The government had a legal obligation to pay the contractual fees,” he said adding that claims that the project had not been budgeted for were not supported."
The magistrate said the allegations by the Prosecution against the former government officials and the businessmen who conspired to defraud the Kenyan government billions of shillings in the tender were erroneous and unfounded.
“There is no evidence of involvement in a conspiracy, nothing is before the court to prove the completion of a conspiracy,” he ruled
“For instance, Sound Day was known in government circles since the 1990s and could not be a phantom company,“ Kombo added.
Kombo said a witness who said he was an offshore fraud expert and whom the prosecution relied on from the UK struggled to prove Sounday was a shell company and even overstepped his mandate.”
"He went beyond the role of an expert and transformed himself into an investigator," he stated.
“Despite spirited attempt to prove its case, I find that the evidence before me fails to stand the test,” the magistrate ruled.
Today's decision comes months after in June last year another court acquitted them of similar charges of conspiracy to defraud the government of Euros 59 billion in an Anglo leasing scam.
In her ruling Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku said the prosecution had failed to prove its case against all the accused.
"They have no case to answer. They have been discharged," the magistrate said.
The Kamanis and the former government officials had been charged along with former Finance Minister David Mwiraria, who died during the trial.
