Ochuodho, 3 others to face charges over Sh827m fraud

Former Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) managing director Shem Ochuodho and two former senior managers of the State corporation have suffered a major legal setback after the Court of Appeal dismissed a suit they had filed blocking their prosecution over their involvement in an Sh827 million fraud.  

The trio had been accused of conspiring to defraud KPC the colossal amount through a bogus refinancing deal signed with Triple A Capital nearly 15 years ago.

Dr Ochuodho, John Gichia Macharia, Terry Winjenje and Triple A Capital had in 2014 obtained a High Court order barring the criminal proceedings against them after convincing Justice Weldon Korir that the refinancing deal at the centre of their predicament had been approved by the Attorney- General’s office, which was now prosecuting their case.

But the Appellate Court has now ruled that former KPC bosses hoodwinked the AG’s office, the Finance and Energy ministries into approving the suspect refinancing deal and then went ahead to execute an entirely different plan.

READ: Court summons ex-KPC bosses in corruption case

The former KPC bosses and Triple A Capital had argued that the AG, whose office was part of the State corporation’s board could not come round to participating in their prosecution. Justices Asike Makhandia, William Ouko and Kathumira M’Inoti, however, held that prosecution of the former KPC bosses was not centred on the transaction approved by then AG Amos Wako but on proving that what the accused individuals did was criminal.

Under the intricate deal, Triple A Capital was to pay KPC’s creditors on behalf of KPC and recover the money from the oil firm.

But records indicate that KPC ended up paying creditors with own funds obtained by charging company assets to Standard Chartered Bank – a transaction it completed through Triple A Capital in 2004.