The High Court allowed the Assets Recovery Agency(ARA) on Friday to recover 6 high-end vehicles from three Kenyans believed to have been bought using proceeds of crime.
According to a gazette notice published on Friday, the luxurious and high-end vehicles will be handed over to the ARA as the three wait on further directives from the court.
This is after the agency obtained court orders directing the owners to forfeit the cars for 90 days pending a hearing and determination of the case.
''In exercise of the powers conferred by section 83 (1) of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009, the Agency Director gives notice to(names withheld) that the High Court has issued preservation orders in Nairobi High Court Miscellaneous Application No. E50 of 2024 as specified in the Schedule,’’ the High Court ruling read in part.
Justice Benjamin Musyoki, the presiding judge of the High Court, ordered the three not to engage in any sale or transfer of the vehicles during the period.
''A preservation order be and is hereby issued prohibiting or restraining the respondents, their agents, employees, representatives or otherwise howsoever from selling, transferring, disposing of, encumbering, or otherwise interfering with the possession and/ or ownership of Motor Vehicle Registration Nos,’’ the order added.
The Court also directed that the vehicles be surrendered to the ARA within seven days from the date of the ruling. Consequently, Mohamed Hussein, an officer working with the agency was directed to recover the vehicles immediately.
''An order be and is hereby issued directing the Respondents being the respective registered owners of Motor Vehicle Registration numbers, to deliver, hand over or surrender the said motor vehicles, their ignition keys, and logbooks to the applicant within seven (7) days of service of the orders of this Honourable Court,’’ the court directed.
''An order be and is hereby issued authorizing Mr. Mohamed Hussein, being a police officer attached to and working the Assets Recovery Agency to seize or take possession of Motor Vehicles,’’ the court added.
Further, the Director General of the National Transport and Safety Authority(NTSA) was also ordered to issue a directive to the public that the vehicles had been set for repossession.
''An order be and is hereby issued directing the Director General, National Transport and Safety Authority to register a caveat against the records of motor vehicles,’’ Justice Musyoki ruled.
The ARA was given 90 days to complete the repossession of the vehicles from the 6 owners, an order which is set to expire in January next year.
