Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) custom officials have arrested a Kenyan travelling from Burundi with Sh238 million in foreign currency at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
On Thursday, the traveller was intercepted at JKIA with a parcel containing $2 million.
He was arrested on suspicion of being part of a money-laundering scheme after failing to declare the cash as required by law.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) custom officials have arrested a Kenyan travelling from Burundi with Sh238 million in foreign currency at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in what will put Nairobi on a list of global hotspots for money laundering.
The traveller, identified as Paul Kemboi, was on Thursday intercepted at JKIA with a parcel containing $2 million.
He was detained briefly and the cash seized on suspicion of being part of a money-laundering scheme after failing to declare the cash as required by law.
“The money has been held and the matter is under investigation,’’ KRA commissioner for Customs and Border Control Lilian Nyawanda said in a statement on Thursday.
Mr Kemboi joins a growing list of travellers who have been nabbed with tens to hundreds of millions of shillings either stashed in bags or parcels at Kenya’s main airport in Nairobi.
On January 28, customs officials arrested a Bahraini national identified as Khalid Jameel Saeed, while carrying US $975,000 (Sh110,808,000) in cash.
Customs officials on December 4, 2020, intercepted Nigerian Mauzu Bala carrying in his handbag $880,000 (Sh100 million), 60,000 Euros (Sh7.74 million) and 63,000 Naira (Sh17,010).
The Nigerian had jetted into the country on a Kenya Airways flight from Lagos and was waiting for a connecting flight to Dubai.
Section 12 (1) of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act requires a person to declare any amount above $10,000 (about over Sh1 million) at the port of entry.
Declaration of currency
In Thursday’s case, the KRA says that the passenger arrived at JKIA from Bujumbura, Burundi, and made a declaration of the currency indicating the origin as Banque de Credit de Bujumbura (BCB) to a recipient, Brinks Global Services, Kenya.
After clearance by the Customs Unit at the airport, the traveller later presented the same money at the Swissport Cargo shed with different export documents for shipment to Global Services, UK.
The documents produced to support the export request were, however, different from those produced on entry into the country.
“After noting the inconsistencies in information provided by the passenger, KRA has invited Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) to assist in investigating the matter as a possible money-laundering attempt,” said Ms Nyawanda.
With the seizure of the Sh238 million from the Kenyan, the ARA will have in its accounts a total of Sh448 million, seized from the two foreigners and the Kenyan.
Global hotspots
The US government has in the past put Kenya on the list of global hotspots for money laundering, citing insufficient controls on the circulation of dirty cash and the lack of laws against terrorism financing.
A report published in 2019 by the United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs said money laundering in Kenya occurred in the formal and informal sectors, fuelled by domestic and foreign criminal operations.
Nations that are classified as havens for money laundering by the US attract scrutiny from global financial players and banks while investors are likely to carry out additional checks on payments involving entities from listed jurisdictions.
Kenya passed anti-money laundering legislation in 2009 and enacted several regulations in the following years, including the one that requires commercial banks to report all suspicious cash transactions above Sh1 million.
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