Mr Bradley Birkenfeld. PHOTO | FILE
Questions emerged yesterday over the credibility of an American
witness in the Anglo Leasing suit after he disowned court documents
linking him to security tenders and his jailing over tax evasion in
the US.
the US.
Bradley Birkenfeld yesterday, through video
conference, rejected records indicating that he had in 2013 signed some
of the security supplies associated with Anglo Leasing contracts.
He
also denied any link with Infotalent—one of the companies that supplied
security items to government, under the contracts, saying he was
neither a director nor a shareholder.
The Ethics and
Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on April 21, 2015 disclosed to the
court that Mr Birkenfeld, 51, signed crucial documents as the managing
director of Infotalent.
The EACC said that Mr Birkenfeld signed a supplier’s finance agreement and documents for direct procurement.
Mr
Birkenfeld said his responsibility as director of UBS bank, in Geneva
Switzerland was to acquire and advice clients with deposits of more than
$1 million (Sh102 million).
The banker said that he
met some of the accused persons while working at the bank where they had
deposited $16 million (Sh1.6 billion).
“I don’t know who prepared the contract even though I can see it has my name and home address,” Mr Birkenfeld.
Lawyer
Ahmednasir Abdullahi for defence put him to task, questioning his
credibility and why the court should believe him given he had been
jailed for 30 months by an American court after pleading guilty to tax
evasion.
“Having been convicted by a competent court in
America, is it not true you are a witness in this case so that you
avoid being tried?” posed lawyer Abdullahi, adding that his testimonies
were rejected in Canada.
Mr Birkenfeld, who was
initially a suspect in the Anglo Leasing suit, has declined to testify
personally in Kenya citing security fears.
The court allowed him to testify via video conference from a UK court.
Mr Abdullahi said that Mr Birkenfeld was converted to a witness by the prosecution following an agreement that he implicates other people in exchange for his freedom.
Mr Abdullahi said that Mr Birkenfeld was converted to a witness by the prosecution following an agreement that he implicates other people in exchange for his freedom.
In the suit, former senior
government officials and businessmen have been charged in connection
with multibillion-shilling security tenders that the government
cancelled as irregular.
Hearing resumes today.
ALSO READ: Witnesses headache in Anglo Leasing
No comments:
Post a Comment