Reprieve For Gachagua as State Hands Back His Sh200 Million

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua can now breathe a sigh of relief after the state handed back his Sh200 million.

This is after the Assets Recovery authority established that the amount was not proceeds of crime.

The amount was forfeited to the State last year.

Gachagua through his counsel Kioko Kilukumi and the Asset Recovery Agency reached an agreement to settle the matter after the emergence of new evidence proving the funds were not proceeds of corruption.

The court of appeal on Wednesday adopted the settlement and vacated orders of the High court that had declared the funds to be proceeds of crime

Earlier investigations conducted by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) indicated that Gachagua and Jenne Enterprises Limited were involved in a suspected complex money laundering scheme.

The funds were held at Rafiki Microfinance Bank in three accounts registered in the DP's name: one with Sh165 million, another with Sh.773,228 and another with Sh35 million.

His accounts were frozen in late 2020, following the conclusion of an investigation by detectives from the DCI's Serious Crimes Investigations Unit into Gachagua's alleged embezzlement of public funds.

Investigations into the alleged passage of Sh.12.5 billion through his accounts were at the centre of the controversy.

Rigathi is suspected of using proxies to obtain contracts through fraud by using 22 companies, with him as the only beneficiary.

The funds came from the Kenya Informal Settlements Programme, the State Department for Special Planning, the Ministry of Health, the Bungoma County government, the Mathira Constituency Development Fund, the Nyeri County government, and the National Irrigation Board.