Former Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) CEO Davy Koech was on Wednesday, September 15, convicted of fraud by a Nairobi court.
Senior Principal Magistrate Victor Wakumile stated that he had found Koech guilty of fraudulent acquisition of public property.
The court fined Koech Ksh19.6 million which it added could be paid in two instalments failure to which he will serve a six-year jail term.
During the proceedings, the magistrate stated that the office Director of Public Prosecution led by Noordin Haji had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Koech committed the offence.
But the DPP stated that he was dissatisfied with the sentence and he would be seeking an appeal at the High Court.
Koech was accused of transferring Ksh19.3 million from Kemri’s bank accounts to his personal accounts when he was heading the research institute.
According to court documents, Koech used the money allocated to the Center for Disease Control, Kisumu to fund his children's education abroad.
Responding to claims of his arrest, Koech dismissed the reports on Twitter and called on his friends to ignore the news circulating on social media.
He went ahead to address the Ksh19.6 million that he was asked to pay claiming that the incident was an administrative oversight and the funds were returned.
"Ignore fake news spreading around that I've been arrested. The figure of 19.3 million that I am accused of stealing from KEMRI in 2006 was an administrative oversight that was corrected when it was returned years ago and with interest. Why the punishment?" Koech posed.
