Dusit attack: Court to rule on whether to release financer

A magistrate court will today rule on whether a man accused of sending money several times to Dusit D2 hotel complex attackers will continue to be held in custody.

Senior Resident Magistrate Muthoni Nzibe said she will issue the ruling after Mohammed Abdi Ali was charged with seven counts of providing property for the commission of a terrorist attack.

BOND

The accused, who was arrested on April 19, has since been in police custody.

Despite pleas from his lawyer and family that he be released on bond, the prosecution wants him further detained.

Court heard that on several occasions, the accused used various mobile phone numbers registered under the name of Mohammed Ali or Issack Abdi Ali to send monies to one Ali Salim Gichunge alias Erik Kinyanjui Muny, the main suspect in the attack.

Court was told that the monies were being sent via Mpesa mobile money transfer to the said person who has been described as a member of terror group Al Shabaab.

The accused sent a total of Sh500,000 from Soko Mbuzi area in Mandera County.  

“The accused person facilitated the commission of a terrorist act by knowingly sending the monies,” prosecution told court.

RIVERSIDE

Mr Gichunge was killed during the 14 Riverside January raid while his wife Violet Omwoyo Kemunto is at large.

By March, 184 persons had been arrested but 95 of them have since been released.

One of the main suspects of the attack who was arrested, detained and charged include Hassan Abdi Nur, who used his Mpesa agent business to transfer the monies from South Africa to Somalia for alleged terror activities.

He allegedly withdrew huge amounts of cash at Diamond Trust bank, Eastleigh branch using 47 Mpesa registered accounts. He allegedly withdrew a total of Sh37,555,000 between August 2018 and January.

HUGE WITHDRAWALS

Out of this amount, Sh 35,145,000 was withdrawn between December 2018 and early January.

A breakdown of the cumulative huge withdrawals on a monthly basis shows that Sh20, 505,000, the largest amount, was withdrawn in December 2018. This was followed by another withdrawal of Sh14,640, 000 in January.

November comes third with withdrawals of Sh1,470,000, followed by August at Sh490,000 and September which had the least figure of Sh450,000.

A further breakdown of large withdrawals between December 5, 2018 and January 4 show that more than Sh1.2 million was withdrawn. Transactions started from December 5, 2018.

SH100 MILLION

Prior to that date, the largest transaction appears to have been Sh500,000 with no more than two large transactions being processed.

Abdinoor Maalim Osmail, a Kenya School of Law student, was taken into custody for allegedly withdrawing Sh100 million. Ali, Nur and Osmail have been accused of being in communication with the deceased as well as sending him monies.