Government allowed to recover Sh20 million from KRA employee's wife

The Anti-Corruption Court yesterday allowed the Government to recover Sh20 million from the wife of a Kenya Revenue Authority employee.

High Court Judge Hedwig Ong’undi found that Alex Mukhwana’s wife, Pamela Aboo, could not explain how she obtained the money.

“There is no dispute that huge deposits were being made. Even with all this, she could not explain how she got the money. It could be true that she does business but where is the evidence?” asked Justice Ong’undi.

Records showed that between 2016 and 2017, money was deposited in Ms Aboo’s Equity Bank account but was never withdrawn.

The deposits were typically never less than Sh100,000 but by the time she was coming into the sights of the State, as much as Sh700,000 was flowing into her account.

But Aboo told the court she was a businesswoman and was saving the money to buy a lorry. She said she also ran a banana and cereals business with two partners whom she named as Samson Waweru and Jonathan Kimindu.

She claimed she was operating another business in Busia, adding that she would often travel to Nairobi to deposit money despite the fact that there were other branches and banks in the county.

Aboo argued that although the Assets Recovery Agency suspected that her husband was engaged in corruption, it did not have any evidence implicating her.

Mr Mukhwana, when pressed by the court to explain how his wife had accumulated such a large sum of money, said he did not know where she got it from.

The court also heard that Mukhwana had not been charged with corruption.

Justice Ong'undi, however, observed that Aboo did not show a single business transaction receipt, adding that she was convinced the money was obtained through graft.

“There is no law prohibiting one to deposit money. It is also not an offence not to withdraw the money. One can even deposit Sh1 billion but they ought to explain how they obtained it,” the judge said.