The Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) now claims that Belgian billionaire, Marc De Mesel, who is wanted over involvement in alleged money laundering, sneaked out of the country to the neighbouring Tanzania.
Speaking in court, ARA alleged that Mesel left Kenya for Tanzania, crossing the Namanga border disguised as a pedestrian.
Mesel is under investigations by ARA after he gifted his university girlfriend and her close family members over Ksh650 million.
ARA told the court it was unable to locate Mesel after he escaped to Tanzania with Felista Njoroge, his university girlfriend whom he gifted Ksh102 million.
“He remains a mystery since we cannot locate him to shed light on the source of his funds. He crossed from Kenya to Tanzania through the Namanga border as a pedestrian.
"He is a person of interest who we suspect is recruiting young Kenyan girls into an international crime racket,” the agency stated.
ARA told the court that it suspected Mesel was part of an international syndicate that was involved in money laundering and he was using the Kenyan ladies to clean the suspicious amounts.
“We discovered that she is part of a syndicate involving complex money laundering schemes with individuals from various countries including Belgium from where she received the money on the pretext that it was a gift from her boyfriend,” ARA, through lawyer Stephen Githinji, told the court.
Earlier in the week, a third woman identified as Jane Wangui Kago, who is accused of being part of the money-laundering scheme involving Mesel, was tasked to explain how she received Ksh49 million from the Belgian.
She told detectives that the Ksh49 million was a gift she received from him to construct a house for her mother. Wangui further explained that part of the money was to be used in expanding her clothes and salon businesses as well as fund her vacation in Portugal.
ARA stated that Wangui had received the cash in two phases; Ksh3.1 million and Ksh45.6 million.
The ARA noted that the suspicious transactions prompted the government agency to summon Wangui to explain the source and purpose of the money.
Wangui's sister, Tebby Wambuku Kago, is also Mesel's girlfriend.
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