Mathira Member of Parliament (MP) Rigathi Gachagua was arrested on Friday morning by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI).
Reports indicate that detectives from the DCI arrested the first-term lawmaker at his Nyeri home.
While Hon Gachagua's lawyer has come out to claim that no reason was given for his arrest, the UDA allied lawmaker has fallen afoul of the law due to his hefty bank accounts.
The Assets Recovery Authority has been on his trail over Ksh 12.5 billion that was allegedly moved through three of his accounts in a Microfinance bank.
The Authority alleged that the sum had been moved through the accounts in a 7 year period in what was suspected to be a case of money laundering.
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MP Rigathi Gachagua/ Photo Courtesy
Transactions in the court's possession reveal that Hon Gachagua started receiving the money in 2013 from government bodies such as the Ministry of Health, Bungoma County Government, Mathira CDF, and Nyeri County Government.
One of his bank accounts at Rafiki Microfinance that had Ksh 200 million was frozen by the court.
In his defence, Hon Gachagua has claimed that he only had a fixed revolving fund of Ksh 200 million which was misconstrued to be billions due to the rate of movement of the cash through the accounts.
The chickens seem to have finally come home to roost for Hon Gachagua after his arrest on Friday morning.
Rigathi Gachagua is the brother of Nyeri's First Governor Nderitu Gachagua who died in a London Hospital in 2017.
