State: Don’t release Sh102m to student

What you need to know:

  • Ms Njoroge received the $914,967 (about Sh102 million) from her Belgian boyfriend, Marc De Mesel, in August in instalments.
  • According to the agency, the student must demonstrate that the hardship she will suffer outweighs the risk of releasing the funds to her.

A State agency has opposed the release of millions of shillings belonging to a student that were frozen last month, arguing that the 21-year-old Felesta Nyamathira Njoroge has not proven that she will undergo hardship if her bank accounts are not unblocked.

Ms Njoroge received the $914,967 (about Sh102 million) from her Belgian boyfriend, Marc De Mesel, in August in instalments and Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) obtained an order freezing the money, suspecting it to be proceeds of crime and obtained a court order blocking her accounts for 90 days.

The student of Nairobi Technical Institute later moved to the court, stating that nothing was linking the money to illegal dealings.

The ARA says Ms Njoroge must demonstrate that she has suffered or will suffer hardship if the money remains frozen.

According to the agency, the student must demonstrate that the hardship she will suffer outweighs the risk of releasing the funds to her.

"The funds in issue are presumed to be proceeds of crime and the applicant is not entitled to utilise the same pending the filing and determination of forfeiture application," the agency said in the application.

Documents filed in court showed that the Belgian wired $229,980 on August 4, followed by $231,980.

The High Court froze the accounts for three months.

Ms Njoroge faulted the order, saying the ARA has not raised any reasonable ground to interfere with her bank accounts because she is not engaged in any fraud.

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Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.