A United States court has allowed a man with Kenyan links convicted of stealing food aid to travel to Kenya and sell properties he bought with proceeds of the crime including a luxurious apartment in Nairobi and a resort property in Diani.
US District Judge Nancy Brasel has given Liban Alishire temporary permission to travel and raise funds to pay back the millions he stole from the programme.
Alishire told the court that the sale would cover Ksh107 million (USD712,084) embezzled from the programme.
The Minnesota court on Wednesday allowed the convict to be in Kenya for only 30 days giving him enough time to sell his property including a five-bedroom apartment in Nairobi and a resort in the coastal region.
He will be required to travel from November and must stay in contact with his lawyer. Upon his return to the US, he should surrender his passport within 24 hours.
The convict was among 60 suspects involved in the scheme to steal from the government through a fake food aid programme.
Alishire was accused of registering a company to distribute food to the needy. However, he failed to do so after receiving the funds, instead bribing government officials and pocketing the rest.
The remaining funds were sent to a second company which the convict used to buy a truck, boat, and real estate.
Court documents revealed that Hoodo Properties was one such shell company Alishire controlled and used to launder proceeds from the fraud scheme.
During his court hearing, Alishire pleaded guilty to wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
He told the court coming to Kenya with his knowledge of the local market would allow him to sell his property and raise the funds.
One of his lawyers defended his appeal to travel to Kenya arguing that he was not a flight risk as presumed by the Federal prosecutors.
"It would make no sense for him to have done any of this if he intended, a year later, to make a harebrained and futile attempt to flee," lawyer Matthew Forsgren told the court.
The lawyer added that if the suspect failed to return, Kenya had an extradition treaty with the US which would help arrest him.
Alishire has family ties in Kenya despite his wife and two children living in the US. His sentencing has been set for a later date.
The other convicts were also allowed to travel back to different countries and sell properties to raise money for restitution.
One was allowed to travel to Somalia and Saudi Arabia while another went to Turkey, Ethiopia, and Dubai.
The food scheme was among the largest scandals in the US with at least Ksh37.5 billion (USD250 million) stolen by individuals pretending to be feeding the needy.
