A university student whose bank account was frozen following a court order, has filed an urgent application seeking to get her money back.
Felista Nyamathira Njoroge had Ksh102 million in her account when the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) moved to court seeking orders to freeze the account until investigations are carried out to establish the source of the money.
In her application, Nyamathira reiterated that she was not engaged in any financial misconduct and she had the capacity to engage in businesses.
She accused the agency of maligning her name and basing their argument on speculation that her huge sums were linked to graft and money laundering.
"I am lawfully entitled to my funds held at my bank account since the agency obtained the sweeping orders freezing the account without asking me where I received the funds from,” Njoroge stated.
Through her lawyer, Thomas Maosa, the student cited that the court had been misled by the agency, adding that she was willing to explain her source of wealth if she was asked to.
Maosa read malice into the agency's decision to seek freezing orders was an infringement to her economic rights.
"I am a law-abiding person who genuinely acquired the money through businesses and relationship," Njoroge stated.
In their application, ARA believed that the funds could have been wired unlawfully and for unknown reasons.
ARA believed that the respondent was involved in a money-laundering scheme designed to conceal and disguise the nature, source location and movement of the funds.
The student's boyfriend, Merc De Mesel, has since made a statement indicating that he sent the money to her. Messel is a bitcoin billionaire, having started trading in the virtual currency in 2008.
Messel noted that he followed the right procedure including filling paperwork with the bank.
