Anglo Leasing case takes new twist that could delay proceedings

Former PS Dave Mwangi and businessman Deepak Kamani at a Milimani court during proceedings of Anglo leasing case. [File, Standard] The long-running Anglo Leasing corruption case, filed in 2015, now risks further delay after businessmen Deepak Kamani and Rashmi Kamani requested the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court to postpone their defense hearing. The Kamani brothers, whose names have become synonymous with the Sh3.5 billion Anglo Leasing scandal, are seeking a stay of proceedings to allow the Court of Appeal time to hear and determine their intended appeal over a recent High Court ruling that reinstated the corruption charges against them. On Friday, the move was opposed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and three former Permanent Secretaries (PSs) who are co-accused in the case. When the matter came up before Chief Magistrate Harrison Barasa for directions on defense hearing, lawyer Fred Ngatia, appearing for the three ex-PSs Joseph Magari (Finance), Dave Mwangi (Provincial Administration), and David Onyonka (Home Affairs) urged the court to separate their trial from that of the Kamani brothers to avoid being entangled in further prolonged litigation. Ngatia told the court that the interests of justice would be better served if the trial were split, noting that the Kamanis have indicated their intention to appeal last month's High Court decision that set aside their acquittal and found they have a case to answer. "The application by the Kamanis to appeal the ruling will likely delay the trial, which has been in court for a decade," Ngatia told the court. "Since the other accused persons are ready to proceed with their defence, we ask that their trial be severed." Ngatia emphasized that the first joint charge, conspiracy to defraud the government, had already been dismissed, first by the trial court and later upheld by the High Court, leaving no overlapping charges between the PSs and the Kamanis. "With that dismissal upheld, what unfolds is that there are now two parallel lines," he explained. "On one hand, we have the PSs with counts unique to them, and on the other, the Kamanis with their own charges. Even if the trial was to proceed jointly before you, it would essentially be two trials within one, but very distinct." Lawyer Ngatiah cautioned against allowing the case to drag on indefinitely, stating that justice delayed for his clients would be justice denied. "The erection of the three PSs is to proceed with the hearing of the defence," Ngatia said. "That erection is founded on the constitutional principle that a criminal trial should be concluded within a reasonable time." Anglo Leasing scandal Suspects Deepak Kamani (right), his brother Rashmi Kamani at a Milimani Courts during the hearing of the case on 9/3/2016. [File, Standard] Ngatia also raised concerns about the expected timeline for the Court of Appeal to determine the Kamanis' Intended appeal, saying it could take as long as three years, particularly as the court record of the High Court's decision that overturned their acquittal and reinstated the charges was not yet available. "Even the court has heard that the proceedings of the High Court have not been obtained. So the clock for the appellate process hasn't even started," he noted. "On behalf of the three accused persons(the former PSs) we represent, we do not want to spend the remainder of our years being called accused 1, 2, 3." Citing Section 285 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), Ngatia urged the court to exercise its discretion to order a separate trial in light of potential prejudice. "It is not our grateful submission that the three former PSs should sit idle for the next unknown number of years waiting for an appeal in which they are not participating," he submitted. "That is the prejudice." In an unexpected twist, the prosecution supported Ngatia's submissions, confirming that no stay order from the Court of Appeal had been presented to the court, and the defence hearing should proceed without further delay. "We do not have a stay order from the Court of Appeal adduced before this court by the Kamanis," the state prosecutor told the magistrate. "We therefore urge the court to allow fixing of dates for the defence hearing." In a shocking revelation, the prosecutor further confirmed to the court that they have not filed an appeal on the first count, where all the accused persons were acquitted of allegations of conspiracy to defraud the Government of Kenya Euros 40 million (about Sh3.5 billion). "Your honor, indeed, it's true, so far we have not received any decision from our boss, DPP Renson Ingonga, to appeal on Count 1," he said. In response, the Kamanis' lawyer insisted that their clients' right to appeal is protected under the constitutional right to a fair trial. "We urge this honorable court to stay these proceedings to allow the Court of Appeal to hear and determine the intended appeal," She argued. "To avoid embarrassment if the appellate court were to allow the appeal." Chief Magistrate Barasa, after hearing all parties, deferred his ruling on whether to allow the Kamanis' request and whether to grant the PSs a separate trial to Tuesday, August 26, 2025. The new developments come after High Court Judge Benjamin Musyoki, on July 31, 2025, overturned the January 19, 2024, acquittal of former PSs Magari, Mwangi, Onyonka, and businessmen Deepak and Rashmi Kamani. Justice Musyoki ordered all accused persons to be put on their defence for five charges of corruption relating to the procurement to supply of security equipment worth multi-billion shillings from abroad. The court found that the Director of Public Prosecutions had established a prima facie case showing that the project, which involved the supply of security equipment, was irregularly authorised by the PSs and former Interior Minister Chris Murungaru, without any budgetary allocation. "There is a letter dated December 5 2003, in which the former PS of Finance, at paragraph three, suggested that there was no budget for the project and was seeking to utilize supplier credit arrangement. In my opinion, that meant there was no appropriation for the credit financing for that year," the judge noted. The judge was particularly concerned about the payment trail of the funds. Though the supplier was Sound Day Corporation, the payment was made not to it, but to Apex Finance Corporation, an offshore company linked to the Kamani family. "The money was not paid to the supplier, but to Apex Finance Corporation... Apex was not a party to the contract, although the contract provided that the money was to be paid to its account," the judge said. "Apex did not, on the face of the evidence, provide any service at the receipt of the same money. It must be explained, especially when it comes from government funds." He added that the Kamani brothers must explain why they received Euros 1.2 million (approximately Sh190 million) from the transaction, noting they had previously denied links to Apex Finance, which was registered in Mauritius on January 8, 1998. "There is evidence that the Kamani's were directors of the company when it was incorporated in Mauritius... There are also declarations of trust dated October 13 2001 by shareholders of Apex showing that they held the shares as nominees of the respondents. The court heard that Sound Day Corporation and Apex Finance, both tied to the Kamanis, were single-sourced by the Government of Kenya to supply security equipments for the Kenya Police Forensic Laboratory. However, there was no evidence that the equipment were ever delivered.

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