NYS Graft suspects Evans Wafula Kundu during a previous court appearance. [File, Standard]
For five years Evans Wafula Kundu He thought he made a lot of money when he bought an empire with a worth of 450 million Sh across three counties.
Kundu, a former supervisor of the National Youth Service (NYS)’s mechanical transport division, lives in the first lane with a monthly salary of only £ 26,000, despite doubts about the source of wealth. I did.
In the midst of a major theft in New York, where it is more claimed 9 billion Sh lostKundu is said to have played an important role in signing payment vouchers for companies that traded and supplied goods to national institutions.
He gracefully stood up from the grass, but his wealth was the income of crimes earned by stealing public funds in New York State, after the High Court admitted that he had to be confiscated in the state. His millionaire empire has collapsed.
Judge Esther Maina said Kundu’s assets spread across Trans Nzoia, Nakuru and Nairobi were stolen from NYS through collusion with fraudulent traders and businesses that paid millions of shillings for not supplying state agencies. I discovered that it was purchased directly using the money I had spent.
“Given his income at the time, he wouldn’t have been able to legally acquire huge wealth and assets. He was pleased that the property was a criminal income and could therefore be confiscated by the government. “I am,” Mina ruled.
Assets to be confiscated
The real estate that Kundu will lose includes the land of Lunda he bought for 90 million shillings, the Kasarani plot of 16 million shillings, the real estate of 25 million shillings in eastern Nakuru, the four-story house in Njoro, and 40 acres. Land in Kitare, Transnzoia County.
The proceedings against Kundu allegedly accumulated enormous wealth, including £ 197,391,968 in his account and £ 350m worth of assets between 2013 and 2018, when the New York looting took place. Claimed and raised by the Asset Recovery Agency.
ARA claimed that Kundu played several roles in fraudulent NYS transactions, signed most of the fraudulent local purchase orders, and issued payment vouchers for goods that were not used or requested by the shipping sector.
According to the agency, Kundu bought real estate under the names of his wife and daughter, colluded with his two brothers to register the company, and the company won a New York contract and numbered without supplying anything. I paid a million dollars.
Kundu said on the defense that the source of the money he used to buy real estate was agriculture, but Judge Mina said his income from agricultural ventures reached 1.2 million shillings in five years. I found that I couldn’t justify his luxury. Lifestyle.
“It is my finding that his explanation of the sources of funding he acquired the assets during the period in question was unconvincing and did not refute the evidence submitted by ARA,” Maina ruled.
The judge sympathized Kundu’s wife and children They were only beneficiaries of his unjust wealth, but ruled that all property he registered in their name must also be confiscated by the country.
According to the judge, Mr. Kundu was involved in a large amount of disputed cash deposits amounting to 197 million shillings traded on various days through his account during the highlight of the New York state theft case. Didn’t even deal with it.
“This silence raises many questions. What is the source of these funds, and what is the relationship between the funds and the assets acquired during the period when public funds were stolen from New York State?” Told.
Kundu was one of several individuals facing charges in seven different corruption cases pending in the Anti-Corruption Court in connection with alleged theft and corruption in New York State between 2013 and 2018. Prosecutors claim that more than 9 billion shillings have been stolen.
Judge Mina ruled that the fact that he was one of the defendants and was not convicted was not sufficient reason to prove his innocence.
“The spirit and purpose of the Crime Revenue and Money Laundering Prevention Act is to ensure that no one benefits from criminal activity and that criminal activity revenue is tracked and confiscated by the state,” Maina said. Dominated.
However, the judge determined that he had preserved other property consisting of Nairobi’s house and two plots of land in Trans Zoa County, and acquired them after the money was stolen from New York State.