AG draws fire over Anglo Leasing

Attorney-General Amos Wako is on the spot again after the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of Britain accused him of failing to request an investigation report it has prepared on the Anglo Leasing scandal, the Sunday Nation has established.

The report, which was to be handed to the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) to help resolve some of the Sh56 billion scandals, is, however, stuck in London as Mr Wako has yet to give his approval.

A spokesperson for the British High Commission, Ms Charley Williams, said the AG has not given KACC the green light to receive mutual legal assistance (MLA) from SFO. Ms Williams said SFO could not give the information because KACC had been denied powers to receive the information by the High Court, and the AG’s office has yet to appeal the ruling.

“SFO has done extensive investigations into the Anglo Leasing scandal, but it cannot share this information as the Attorney-General has not given KACC legal confirmation to receive the information,” the British High Commission spokesperson said.

Last October Justice Joseph Nyamu, promoted to the Court of Appeal last Thursday, stopped KACC from investigating two cases over MLA.

The High Court judge said the anti-corruption body could not investigate a contract which Wako had okayed before its implementation.

The effect of this and another judgment by Justice Lesiit in December 2007 was that KACC was barred from undertaking on further investigations in relation to the Anglo Leasing contracts. Mr Wako, who is out of the country, was last week reported to have written to the US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger seeking to interrogate Bradley Birkenfeld over his involvement in the multi-billion-shilling scandal.

Birkenfeld, in custody for crafting tax evasion schemes, allegedly pledged to give information on the Anglo Leasing scandal, among other scams, in return for his release.

Investigations show that Mr Birkenfeld signed one of the 18 Anglo Leasing contracts on behalf of Info Talent Limited and his private residential address was given on a second credit contract as the Directors’ Offices of Midland Finance and Securities Limited.

That firm has since sued the government for repayment of the never-received credit and even succeeded in blocking the KACC from using a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers.