Alain Berset, Switzerland president. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Kenya is suspected to have lost more than $600 million (more than Sh50 billion) in the Anglo Leasing scam.
- The money was lost in 18 security-related contracts awarded to companies that did not render services or deliver goods paid for.
- Some of the companies were later found to have supplied substandard equipment at highly inflated prices.
More than $2 million (about Sh201 million), suspected to be
proceeds of corruption in Kenya, has been frozen in Swiss bank accounts
as part of the effort to recover and repatriate stolen funds. The money
is linked to the multi-billion Anglo leasing scam – one of the largest
in the history of corruption in Kenya. “Money has been frozen in
Switzerland in relation to the Anglo-Leasing case in the amount of
approximately $2 million,” Saskia Salzmann, a diplomatic attaché’ at the
Embassy of Switzerland to Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda,
told the Business Daily, adding that these would probably be the first
assets to be returned to Kenya.
Kenya is suspected to
have lost more than $600 million (more than Sh50 billion) in the Anglo
Leasing scam. The money was lost in 18 security-related contracts
awarded to companies that did not render services or deliver goods paid
for.
Some of the companies were later found to have
supplied substandard equipment at highly inflated prices. Ms Salzman
said the money is being repatriated on condition that judicial
proceedings on the Anglo-leasing case will come to an end and a final
and executable judgment is delivered.
Swiss
authorities said on Monday that recovering the money was part of a
revamped and wider offshore scrutiny of proceeds of graft and assets
that corrupt Kenyans have hidden in the European country's banks.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Swiss President Alain Berset early
this month signed an agreement dubbed the Framework for the Return of
Assets from Corruption and Crime in Kenya (FRACCK).
“The
Framework for the Return of Assets from Corruption and Crime in Kenya
is not limited to a specific case or amount of money to be returned,” Ms
Salzmann said, hinting at recovery and repatriation of more stolen
assets that Kenyans have kept in Swiss banks.
Top
officials in former President Mwai Kibaki’s government were adversely
mentioned in the Anglo Leasing scandal. The list included former
Vice-President Moody Awori, former Internal Security minister Chris
Murungaru and former Finance minister David Mwiraria.
They
have all denied alleged involvement in the scam. Businessman Deepak
Kamani and Sri Lanka-born billionaire Anura Perera were named as key
players in most of the contracts. Mr Kamani, whose Anglo Leasing-type
companies allegedly moved proceeds from the contracts through Swiss
banks, is under investigation for money laundering in Switzerland.
The
Kenyan government is also investigating Mr Kamani for other offences
related to the irregular deals and has asked Switzerland for mutual
legal assistance.
The deal is in line with the United
Nations Convention against Corruption that provides guidelines for
recovery of stolen assets.
In 2014, Mr Kenyatta
authorised the Treasury to pay Sh1.4 billion to two Anglo Leasing-type
firms that had obtained judgments against Kenya. The agreement signed
with Swiss authorities states that assets recovered will be used to
support development objectives in areas such as health.
The
amount of money that rich Kenyans have kept in Swiss banks rose last
year, even as pressure against financial secrecy by Switzerland mounted.
The
total amount was reported to have increased 4.3 per cent to Swiss
francs 950 million (CHF) or about Sh96 billion last year from 911.4
million or about Sh92.1 billion in 2016, according to a Swiss National
Bank (SNB) report.
The additional amount alone can
finance the construction of three equivalents of the 50km Thika
superhighway. The funds, however, once reached a record high of CHF 1.7
billion (Sh172 billion) in 2007.
These funds include deposits from Kenyans and fiduciary liabilities or money held in Swiss banks in trust on behalf of Kenyans.
ALSO READ: Wealthy Kenyans stash Sh96bn in Swiss banks
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