Controversial businessman Ben Gethi was hard-pressed to explain massive cash transfers from his account during the period that Sh791 million was paid out by the National Youth Service (NYS).
Mr Gethi, 32, who is at the centre of the NYS probe into the embezzled funds, could not satisfy the curiosity of members of the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee.
They demanded to know the source of millions deposited in his account in cash, with transactions indicating that the entire amount was immediately withdrawn after hitting the bank. He said he did not benefit from the NYS loot.
At one point, the MPs demanded to know what businesses he was running after details from the bank showed that on two days – March 11 and 12, 2015 – he had deposits of Sh80 million made to his account.
"What is this business that you run that earns you Sh80 million in only two days? That cannot be a normal business," questioned Kieni MP Kanini Kega.
Gethi said the money had been withdrawn from his other business accounts.
He could not, however, tell the committee what business the cash came from, even as he later told members that he had made Sh500 million in supplies to NYS, and was still owed more.
Not benefited
Gethi insisted he had not benefited from Sh791 million that was lost at NYS, further claiming that he was not known to Josephine Kabura, another figure named in the scandal.
But legislators pointed out "unusual coincidences" that they said suggested he was part of the conduit chain used to steal the money.
MPs said it was an "unbelievable coincidence" that on the same day that millions were paid out to companies involved in the Sh791 million, similar figures would be seen deposited and withdrawn from Gethi's account.
The committee, chaired by Rarieda MP Nicholus Gumbo, noted that on the day that Sh80 million was deposited in Gethi's account, a similar amount had, 50 minutes before, been paid to Roof and Tiles Company, associated with Ms Kabura, and one of the five companies that was paid the Sh791 million.
Another coincidence that the MPs noted was that all the transactions were made at Family Bank, KTDA branch, curiously where both Gethi and Kabura have accounts.
Gethi maintained that he was only a sacrificial lamb and a victim of office politics at the Ministry of Devolution and at NYS, claiming that even former Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru had benefited from the scandal.
