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Adede, man at the centre of Sh2bn fake Barclays Bank cash probe

eric adede

Eric Adede (in hooded jacket), who is at the centre of Sh2bn fake currency probe. PHOTO | KANYIRI WAHITO

Those who know Eric Adede well describe him as an ardent Gor Mahia football club fan with some political ambitions.

In 2016, the man who was on Tuesday named among suspects in the Sh2 billion ($20 million) Barclays Bank fake cash saga vied for the chairmanship of Gor Mahia, but lost.

In 2017, he contested for the Homa Bay Town parliamentary seat, but lost in the primaries.

Mr Adede, who is also the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) chairman at the prestigious Riara Primary School in Nairobi, was on Wednesday arrested by detectives in connection with the fake currency that had been stashed in a safe deposit box at Barclays Bank.

When he and his alleged accomplices were frogmarched from the Queensway branch of the bank on Tuesday, Mr Adede was hiding his face from a battery of journalists who were jostling to get the best shots of the suspects.

Later, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) made public the identity of the suspects.

A note by the DCI indicated that the suspects are likely to face a charge of “being in possession of suspected fake currency.”

It added that the fake notes were in $100 denominations.

For a majority of those who know Mr Adede, the news came as a shock.

His friends describe him as a decent and knowledgeable person who always engages in meaningful debate.

Sober man

“I have known Eric for a while, he is a very sober man that you can engage with in a meaningful conversation but I am shocked by the recent development,” says a friend who has known him for some time but requested anonymity to speak his mind freely.

On his Facebook page, Mr Adede describes himself as “a simple and high-thinking Kenyan, an ardent believer in change and positive thought.

His greatest aspirations are to make the world a better place for all,” reads his bio on the social media site.

Nothing much is said about his academic life. However, he uses the title doctor before his name.

It is said that he is a “friend” of high ranking figures in the Jubilee administration, but the Business Daily could not independently verify these claims.

Some of his friends claim that the close link with the ruling Jubilee Party is the reason why he lost the battle for the Homa Bay seat in 2017 after he was branded a Jubilee mole in a region that is predominantly Orange Democratic Movement.

On Tuesday, Barclays Bank #ticker:BBK distanced itself from the fake cash, arguing that it does not have control over the contents that a customer puts in their safe deposit boxes.

The police indicated that two staff members at the branch and three other suspects had been taken in for questioning.

“The customer had concealed fake currency in his personal safe deposit box against the bank rules and regulations which include restrictions of items which can be held in the box…the contents of personal safe deposit boxes are not part of the bank’s deposits and are only known to the client,” said Barclays Kenya in a statement.