High Court judge Hedwig Ong’undi threw out Pamela Abbo’s stay request against the transfer of the money in three bank accounts to the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) pending the hearing of an appeal.
Ms Abbo had argued that if the money in her account is forfeited to the ARA it may be difficult getting it in the event of a successful appeal.
The court ruled that the money held at Equity Bank Donholm Branch in Nairobi, which was deposited in Mombasa between 2015 and 2017 and never withdrawn, was proceeds of crime.
The State is now free to seize Sh19.6 million belonging to the wife of a Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) employee after the High Court dismissed a stay application for recovery of the funds believed to be proceeds of crime.
High Court judge Hedwig Ong’undi threw out Pamela Abbo’s stay request against the transfer of the money in three bank accounts to the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) pending the hearing of an appeal.
Ms Abbo had argued that if the money in her account is forfeited to the ARA it may be difficult getting it in the event of a successful appeal.
“I find that the applicant has failed to discharge her burden of satisfying any substantial loss she will suffer if the stay of extension is not granted. The result is that the application lacks merit and I dismiss it with costs,” Justice Ong’undi ruled.
The court ruled that the money held at Equity Bank #ticker:EQTY Donholm Branch in Nairobi, which was deposited in Mombasa between 2015 and 2017 and never withdrawn, was proceeds of crime.
Court documents show Ms Abbo was unable to prove legitimate source of millions, which were believed to have come from her husband — Alex Mukhwana Khisa who is an employee of the KRA.
The High Court on November 14 ordered Equity Bank to transfer Sh19.6 million from her three bank accounts to the government and later to the ARA.
This makes it the second high- profile transfer of assets from individuals following court actions that ruled the properties were linked to fraudulent dealings. In September, the State took ownership of a Sh48.5 million luxury five-bedroom apartment in Lavington, Nairobi, bought with funds stolen from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.
In the latest case, the asset recovery agency reckons the accounts at Equity Bank were built by regular deposits averaging above Sh100,000 from common people and agents, especially Equity Bank agents.
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