A former government official will have to part with his Ksh41 million wealth thanks to a new court ruling.
According to a report by The Standard, the court arrived at the ruling after the accused, former National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation Finance Manager Stanley Mombo Amuti, failed to account for where his vast empire came from.
In January, Amuti caught the attention of the EACC after they noticed that his spending habits in 10 months, within the period of September 1, 2007, and June 26, 2008, did not seem to match his salary.
EACC told the Court of Appeal that Mombo spent Kshs41 million within the 10 months to purchase luxury vehicles and prime pieces of land yet he earned a monthly salary of Ksh180,000.
A court of Appeal bench consisting of three judges, Phillip Waki, Gatembu Kairu and Otieno Odek, concluded that the accused had to explain where he had acquired the wealth even though he was never convicted of corruption charges.
“We are satisfied that the appellant did not offer a satisfactory explanation as to the source of the admitted sum of Sh 15.5 million from the alleged Sudanese national; the source of Sh1 million allegedly for community electricity project, the source of Ksh10.9 million and the source of Ksh9.5 million for sale of properties,” ruled the bench.
According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) documents, Amuti once banked Ksh1.5 million cash in one day and had cleverly sub-divided the money into Ksh100,000.
On the following day, the former official also proceeded to deposit Ksh2 million.
He was subsequently found with Ksh4 million cash when the detectives raided his house.
Mombo, through his lawyer, had argued that he was not required to explain how he acquired the Kshs41 million.
He also argued that it was unfair for EACC to freeze his assets, arguing that he had not been arraigned in court for any graft charges.
