By William Koome
An Anti-Corruption court in Nairobi has allowed the anti-graft agency to freeze for six months bank account for a 36-year-old junior employee at the Ministry of Environment over fraudulent acquisition of Sh79 million within the last three years.
Detectives are seeking to establish how Samuel Kariuki Njoroge in Job group K and on Sh32, 000 net monthly pay earned Sh79, 763, 944 which was deposited into his Equity Bank account in different tranches from the Ministry’s Integrated financial management and information system (Ifmis).
His account had Sh22.4 million as of April 26, 2022.
The probe followed revelations that the officer had been illegally and irregularly receiving huge sums of money from the department money meant for various services which were never rendered.
The sleuths want to know how the officer spent over Sh50 million believed to have been stolen from the Ministry since January 2019 as his salary was disproportionate to his bank account balance.
Reports indicate that some of money was paid to the officer’s account as payment for purchase of snacks.
The agency sought orders to freeze the account to prevent possible transfers or loss of the funds and was also allowed to preserve a parcel of land and some motor vehicles for six months pending completion of probe.
The investigators are also seeking to establish accomplices if any and bring them to book.
