Agency asks court to decline Ngirita's plea on bank accounts
Phyllis Njeri Ngirita, one of the suspects in the National Youth Service scandal, outside the Milimani Law Courts on March 4, 2020. PHOTO | RICHARD MUNGUTI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Ms Phyllis Njeri Ngirita has filed an application seeking access to her account at KCB to pay school fees for her son.
- In her application, Ms Ngirita said her Standard Seven son at Pembroke House School in Gilgil has been at home due to arrears amounting to Sh3.4 million.
- She claims the Sh800,000 that is locked up at her bank "is the only money I have" and that she acquired it as a loan.
The Assets Recovery Authority (ARA) has urged the high court to decline a plea to re-open the bank account of a member of the Ngirita family.
ARA wants the accounts of the family, charged with fraudulently receiving millions of shillings from the National Youth Service (NYS), to remain frozen claiming the monies are proceeds of crime.
The agency told Lady Justice Mumbi Ngugi that Ms Phyllis Njeri Ngirita, who is charged alongside her mother, sister and brother, has not presented any tangible evidence to convince the court to order the Kenya Commercial Bank to allow her access to the frozen funds.
Ms Ngirita filed a case against ARA and KCB seeking to be allowed to withdraw the money to pay school fees for her son.
“The funds complained of arise from a pure civil transaction between Njeri and KCB. The detained Sh700,000 is a loan advanced to Njeri by the lender, It is not funds from NYS,” Ms Ngirita’s lawyer Evans Ondieki said.
ARA lead investigator Paul Waweru told the judge it froze the accounts after receiving evidence that the funds were proceeds of crime although she claims it is a loan for which she used her car as security.
Justice Ngugi heard that “the vehicle which guaranteed the loan has also been detained by ARA which is carrying out further investigations as to how it was bought”.
She further heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions directed the accounts of Ms Ngirita to be quarantined as they allegedly contain proceeds of crime and also to deter theft of public funds.
“Granting of this request by the suspect in the NYS scam case will portray this court in bad light. It might be misconstrued that it is sanitising acquisition and enjoyment of money fraudulently acquired from public coffers,” Mr Waweru said.
The agency said that no person should be allowed to enjoy proceeds of crime.
Mr Waweru stated that granting of the relief sought by the applicant will set a bad precedent as suspects arraigned over alleged acquisition of public funds will dash to courts to seek release of monies held in frozen accounts which are suspected to be proceeds of crime.
The ruling will be on May 6.
