Court freezes man's bank account over Sh20 million deposit

The judge ruled that the order freezing Werar's account shall be in force for 90 days to allow ARA to complete investigations into his secret dealings. [iStockphoto] High Court has frozen the account of a businessman who deposited Sh20 million in a day without declaring the source of the money. Lady Justice Esther Maina issued the order freezing the accounts of Mohammed Abdi Werar following an application by the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) over suspicion that the trader is engaged in secret money laundering deals. "An order is hereby issued allowing the applicant, Asset Recovery Agency, to seize and preserve the Sh20 million held at Absa Bank, Eastleigh branch in the name of Mohammed Abdi Werar," ruled Maina. The judge ruled that the order freezing Werar's account shall be in force for 90 days to allow ARA to complete investigations into his secret dealings before filing a formal suit to have the money forfeited to the state for being proceeds of crime. The state agency, through principal state counsel Jennifer Gitiri, submitted that they received reports that the businessman had deposited a huge amount of money in his personal account and upon investigations discovered that he could not explain the source of the funds. "When asked, he purportedly described the source of funds as proceeds from the sale of sugar but he could not explain the source of funds deposited into his personal account. We have reasonable grounds to believe that the cash is tainted property and proceeds of crime," said Gitiri. She told the court that the trader was in the process of withdrawing and transferring the funds from the account before investigations are complete to establish the legitimacy of the money. The agency claimed that they do not understand how the 37-year-old businessman carried Sh20 million in cash and walked with it within the busy streets of Eastleigh before depositing it at Absa Bank. The agency's investigator Fredrick Muriuki in his affidavit swore that they received the information on February 13 after Werar visited the bank on February 8 while carrying the huge amount in cash and deposited it in the account. "He made the unsupported large cash deposit of Sh20 million on a single day and when asked to declare the source, he indicated that the money was from the sale of food commodities and in particular sugar but there was no evidence of such delivery of sugar," said Muriuki. Muriuki said the suspect, Werar, is part of traders engaged in money laundering within Eastleigh who controls millions of tainted money that ought to be forfeited to the state for being proceeds of crime. The investigator claimed that they believe Werar has been making other huge cash deposits in the account and transferring the money to other jurisdictions and that the Sh20 million was just a part of the secret money laundering scheme the businessman is engaging in. He added that the trader shall continue enjoying money suspected to be proceeds of money laundering unless the court allows the agency to seize and preserve the funds until they complete investigations. Justice Maina directed that the matter be mentioned on June 19 for further directions.

Court freezes man's bank account over Sh20 million deposit

Get Full Access for Ksh299/Week.

Related Topics

Similar Articles

Latest Stories

The Standard Insider

Digger Classified

GET OUR NEWSLETTER

CONNECT WITH US

FOR THE LATEST JOB ADVERTS

Similar Articles

For Africa to move forward, Africans must be allowed to cross borders

Global housing crisis deepens despite policy gains - UN warns

Families feel the pinch as war-hit diaspora remittances shrink

Mbadi names Adan Mohamed as new KRA chief

DIGGER JOBS

Digger Motors

Digger Real Estate

Court freezes man's bank account over Sh20 million deposit

Get Full Access for Ksh299/Week.

Related Topics

Similar Articles

Latest Stories

The Standard Insider

Digger Classified

GET OUR NEWSLETTER

CONNECT WITH US

FOR THE LATEST JOB ADVERTS