Ex-EABL director charged with stealing Sh243 million

Aristide Nkoumondo, a Cameroonian, is facing four counts of theft. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU 

By BRIAN WASUNA and MUGAMBI MUTEGI

In Summary

• Aristide Nkoumondo is said to have stolen Sh58.7 million in April 2011, Sh62.7 million in July 2011 and Sh121.7 million in October 2011.

A former East African Breweries Limited (EABL) director of procurement was on Thursday charged in court with stealing more than Sh243 million from the beer maker in 2011.

Aristide Nkoumondo, a Cameroonian, is facing four counts of theft by servant, which carries a prison term of up to seven years if found guilty of the offence. He is believed to have embezzled the funds on four different occasions between April and October 2011.

Investigators handling the matter claim that Mr Nkoumondo colluded with other persons to commit the crime but the charge sheets do not specify whether other employees were involved.

“On April 6, July 6, July 18 and October 18, jointly with others not before court being an employee of East African Breweries, as a director of procurement, Aristide Nkoumondo stole Sh243,227,500 which came into his possession by virtue of his employment,” the charge sheet reads.

Senior principal magistrate Grace Mumasi ordered the former EABL procurement boss to deposit his passport with the authorities after the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions argued that he is a flight risk.

Mr Nkoumondo joined EABL in July 2008 from Nestle Ghana where he had been the supply chain director for one-and-half years before joining the brewer.

Investigators say he stole Sh58.7 million in April 2011, Sh62.7 million in July 2011 and Sh121.7 million in October 2011.

Police arrested Mr Nkoumondo last Friday and held him in custody until Thursday when he was released on a Sh3 million bond with surety of the same amount.

He was initially to be charged on Monday, but his arraignment was pushed forward to allow police and the office of the DPP time to complete investigations.

The Cameroonian will be tried on August 4 and 5 before Ms Mumasi.

Mr Nkoumondo paints a glowing picture of his achievements as EABL’s director of procurement, a position he held for four years between July 2008 and August 2012.

“I centralised the procurement function for the entire group, implemented ‘category management’ as the way of procurement, maximising our contribution in terms of cost reduction and improved service,” he says in his LinkedIn page.

Mr Nkoumondo was in charge of procuring materials and resources for EABL’s business including the Ruaraka brewery, the malting plant in Industrial Area and Central Glass Industries which was recently sold off.

READ: EABL to earn Sh4.5bn from sale of glass firm

Diageo promoted him in 2012 to be the supply chain director for Cameroon, a position he held until late last year when was appointed the managing partner at Innovo, a Paris-based online business-to-business marketplace.