US calls for crackdown on S. Sudan war money invested in Kenya

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar. US wants their properties investigated. [Photo: AFP]

The United States urged Kenya on Wednesday to investigate properties and assets owned by elite families from South Sudan, including its president and his rival, who have enriched themselves in their country's civil war raging since 2013.

Sigal Mandelker, the US Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence on a tour of East Africa, said South Sudanese, some of them on a sanctions list, have continued to invest illicit money in Kenya's real estate market.