Imenti Central MP denies duping public of Sh14m in pyramid scheme

By Pamela Chepkemei

Nairobi, Kenya: An MP accused of obtaining millions of shillings dishonestly from victims of a collapsed pyramid scheme told a Nairobi court his prosecution is malicious.

Gideon Irea Mwiti, MP for Imenti Central, denied he obtained money from victims by pretending that he could offer 16 per cent interest on their deposits in 30 days.

“The charges against me are malicious because more than 50 per cent of those who complained did not testify in court,” Mwiti told the trial magistrate.

He was the director of the collapsed Kenya Akiba Micro-Finance Ltd. The court on June 21 ruled that Mwiti had a case to answer and directed him to appear Monday for defence hearing.

Mwiti, who was presenting his defence, disowned a savings society, which the prosecution alleges he used to obtain the money from the victims. He denied ever receiving money from the victims who testified against him in court.

Testimonies

He told the court he was not associated with Kenya Business Community Sacco. Mwiti said he never signed the investment contracts between the Sacco and the investors, which were produced in court during the trial.

He also did not participate in running the affairs of the Sacco.

The police have charged the MP with deceiving complainants to pay a total of Sh14.2 million to Kenya Business Community Sacco pretending that he could offer 16 per cent interest on their deposits within 30 days.

The MP argued that the officials of the Kenya Business Community Sacco are known by the police but none had been called to testify against him. He, however, admitted that the officials of the sacco had consulted him before the organisation was established. The officials, he added, wanted him to advise them on how they could incorporate a sacco.

The sacco was registered in March 2006 and closed by the Government in 2007 on accusations that it acted in breach of bylaws. The sacco collapsed with Sh780 million of investors’ funds.

The court heard Mwiti deceived victims to deposit cash on various days between January and June 2007 at View Park Towers, Nairobi.

The prosecution and the defence will make final submissions on August 13.

In August last year, Parliament passed a law to protect public from dubious investment schemes.

The law stipulates that promoters of pyramid schemes would be fined Sh10 million or be jailed for up to ten years upon conviction.

The report compiled by current Kitui West MP Francis Nyenze’s team recommended that those named in the document be prosecuted.

The team found that Deci conned people Sh2.4 billion while Clip Investment collapsed with Sh1.9 billion and Circuit went under with Sh340 million.

Some of the architects of the fraud schemes it was noted were legislators and Cabinet ministers, who used their positions to defraud the public.