Kamani, sons face fraud charges

What you need to know:

  • Business mogul Deepak Kamani, his father Chamanlal Kamani and brother Rashmi Kamani were charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit an economic crime and fraudulent acquisition of public resources totalling Sh10.4 billion for services not provided.
  • On April 14, 2004, the three alongside Apex Finance Corporation were said to have acquired a further Euros 1.2 million (Sh121.2 million) from the Ministry of Finance on the pretext that they were able to provide the security equipment for the police service.
  • The second file had Deepak, Rashmi and Infotalent Ltd being charged with conspiring to steal over Sh6 billion through an agreement for computerisation of security systems for the Kenya police through a project code named E-Cops.

The ghosts of Anglo Leasing scandal finally caught up with a father and his two sons said to have fraudulently acquired a huge chunk of the billions of public funds.

Business mogul Deepak Kamani, his father Chamanlal Kamani and brother Rashmi Kamani were charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit an economic crime and fraudulent acquisition of public resources totalling Sh10.4 billion for services not provided.

The offences, committed between July 2003 and June 2004 also enlist three companies said to have benefited from huge payments to Anglo Leasing contracts designed to provide modernised security surveillance systems for the police force.

The charges were a culmination of long running investigations and run-ins between the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Kamani brothers which led to several cases at the High Court.

In the first charge, Deepak, Rashmi and Chamanlal were conspiring with senior government officials to defraud the public of Sh4 billion.

“Between October 2003 and April 2004 in Nairobi, you conspired with others not before court to commit an economic crime by engaging in a scheme to defraud the government Euros 40 million (Sh4 billion) through a contract for modernization of police security equipment and accessories project,” read the charge.

On April 14, 2004, the three alongside Apex Finance Corporation were said to have acquired a further Euros 1.2 million (Sh121.2 million) from the Ministry of Finance on the pretext that they were able to provide the security equipment for the police service.

COMPUTERISATION OF SECURITY

The second file had Deepak, Rashmi and Infotalent Ltd being charged with conspiring to steal over Sh6 billion through an agreement for computerisation of security systems for the Kenya police through a project code named E-Cops.

In the other count, Deepak, Rashmi and Infotalent Ltd were said to have fraudulently received on January 12, 2004, Euros 1.8 million (Sh180.5 million) into the company account held with HSBC Republic Bank of Switzerland without delivery of financing services.

The final account alleged that they received Euros 3.5 million (Sh353.5 million) into their bank account in Switzerland without delivery of services.

They all denied the charges with Deepak and Rashmi being released on a cash bail of Sh4 million each while their father was released on a cash bail of Sh2 million.

As a measure to ensure that the three do not escape, chief magistrate Hellena Ndung’u ordered that they deposit their passports in court within 14 days.

“The fact that one of the accused is domiciled in Dubai is reason enough to believe that they might flee from the court’s jurisdiction. The age of Chamanlal is not sufficient for him to retain his travel documents,” ruled Ms Ndung’u.

Orders were issued to Sound Day Corporation, Apex Finance Corporation and Infotalent Ltd to be represented when the case comes up on March 18.

Former Finance minister David Mwiraria is the only one yet to take a plea in the case as he is said to be hospitalised.
His plea was deferred to March 18 during the mention.