Three Chinese nationals who were charged in a multi-million ticketing scheme in the Standard Guage Railway (SGR) are facing deportation.
Mombasa Chief Magistrate Edna Nyaloti on Wednesday, October 28 directed that the accused, Li Gen, Li Xiawou and Sun Xin be escorted by police to the immigration offices for deportation back to China.
In her ruling, the magistrate terminated the case against the foreigners and directed the deposit in court to be released to the suspects.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had earlier stated that it was unwilling to pursue the matter.
The three were implicated in a 2018 ticketing scam at the SGR. They were apprehended on allegations of attempting to bribe Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers with Ksh500,000.
Also arrested were four Kenyan officials who were working with the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) which operates the Madaraka Express train between Mombasa and Nairobi.
The ticketing scam was found to involve manipulating the booking system operated by CRBC staff to split the ticket revenue between the Chinese railway operator and the cartel of insiders.
Investigations found that the fraudsters made up to Ksh1 million per day on all trips.
The scam saw the unsuspecting passengers lose millions of shillings in bookings to use the train at the time.
Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga addressed the matter stating that investigations were being carried out to find the culprits of the scheme.
"The corporation would like to categorically state that the alleged loss of funds could presumably have affected passengers who purchased tickets from elsewhere other than the officially recognised and provided channels," Mainga stated at the time.
The three nationals in August 2020, caused panic in a Mombasa courtroom when they presented themselves fully dressed in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
The magistrate was forced to postpone the hearing after she mistook the suspects for the Ministry of Health officials who had come to collect a Covid-19 patient.
