By Francis Ogwo
A Dubai bound Nigerian man caught at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport(JKIA) in Nairobi with USD $880,000, 60,000 Euros cash has been ordered by a Kenyan High Court subject to surrender the money and face laundering charges and Investigations
The man whose name was reported as Muazu Bala on Friday was arrested with the money stacked in his handbag enroute Dubai.
Confirming the development, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) issued a statement in which it said:
“The High Court has ordered the over Ksh 100 million that was confiscated from a foreigner by detectives based at JKIA to be deposited at CBK pending money laundering investigations,” the statement reads.
“The foreign national who was heading to Dubai from Nigeria was in possession of USD 880,000, 60,000 Euros and 63,000 Naira. To enable investigate the matter, DCI Transnational Organized Crime Detectives (TOCU) are working with the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA). The seized cash is believed to be from International Criminal Cartel.”
Media reports say a court order was sought by the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) to freeze the money seized from Bala.
According to the ARA, the failure of Bala subject to make his huge cash luggage known to airport officials raised suspicion of money laundering and illegitimate possession of the cash. This was heightened with the absence of accompanying documents.
The statement emphasized that under Kenyan law, Section 12 (1) of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act requires a person to declare any amount above $10,000 (approximately over Sh1 million).
The Act also empowering the agency to obtain a court order to seize money within five days after gathering convincing proofs that the money was illegal.
A police investigator attached to the ARA, Fedrick Musyoki, had said in an affidavit that: “The threshold for requiring the declaration was not complied as the respondent did not disclose the source of the cash, the business he was doing and the basis of moving with cash of that magnitude.
“There are reasonable grounds to suspect the funds found in possession of the respondents in cash may be a direct or indirect benefit or proceeds of crime obtained from a complex money laundering scheme and are liable to be forfeited to the state under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2009,” Musyoki added.
During interrogation on the possession of the huge amount, Bala said his mission to Dubai was for business.
The agency was quick to tell Bala that his possession of the cash for business was still very suspicious as Nigeria’s banking system permits inter bank transfer between Nigeria and Dubai even while he is out of the country.
After legally proving to Bala that his possession of such huge cash contravened the laws of Kenya, the court ordered Kenya Airways CEO, Allan Kilavuka, to hand the money to ARA, until investigations on the matter were concluded.
Reports revealed that Muazu Bala had arrived Nairobi aboard a Kenya Airways flight KQ535 from Lagos, Nigeria and was intercepted at the transit lounges while processing flight documents to catch flight KQ310 to Dubai.
Nigeria similarly has a mandatory rule for declaration of any currency with cumulative minimum limit of $10,000 or its equivalence.
