NYS suspects lose bid to stop charges
Josephine Kabura Irungu at the Milimani Law Courts on July 18, 2016 for the hearing of a case in which she, along with others, is charged with money laundering arising from the theft of Sh791 million from NYS. They were initially expected to plead to the charges in February. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- In a ruling, the magistrate said a preliminary objection they filed seeking to defer the money laundering case until the first trial is over “lacked merit”.
Key suspects in the Sh791 million National Youth Service scam have lost a bid to quash a second prosecution over money laundering.
Ms Josephine Kabura, Mr Ben Gethi and lawyer Eric Ogola will now be charged on August 15 at the Milimani Law Courts where they also face prosecution over the stolen youth agency’s cash.
They are charged alongside eight others.
In a ruling, the magistrate said a preliminary objection they filed seeking to defer the money laundering case until the first trial is over “lacked merit”.
They will, however, be pursuing an appeal against the ruling, their lawyers said.
The magistrate ruled that there was no justified reason as to why their trial, which has been delayed for more than six months, should not commence.
He directed that they plead to the 15 counts preferred against them by the Director of Public Prosecutions on August 15.
They were initially expected to plead to the charges in February.
On June 29, a judge dismissed seven applications filed by the suspects saying the chief prosecutor had not abused his powers in preferring the charges as alleged by the suspects.
