Warrants have been issued for the arrests of former Kenya Pipeline Company Managing Director Charles Kiprotich Tanui and 10 other people in a case of conspiracy to commit fraud.
A total of 18 suspects were to appear at the Anti-Corruption Court on Tuesday to answer to charges of conspiracy to steal $6,441,700 (Sh661,498,173) from the company.
NO-SHOWS
Only seven of the 18 people turned up in court. Eleven, including Mr Tanui, did not show up.
The seven were released on cash bails of Sh2 million each in the case that will be mentioned on January 22.
Earlier, seven senior managers of the KPC were arrested in a second wave that targeted current and former managers.
Detectives of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) detectives arrested them over the loss of that amount of money in the October 2014 procurement of 58 hydrant pit valves.
These were to replace the faulty ones at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.Several officials are in custody over the matter.
They include finance general manager Samuel Odoyo and procurement manager Nicholas Gitobu, who were earlier charged alongside outgoing managing director Joe Sang for graft arising from the Sh1.9 billion Kisumu Oil Jetty.
Others in custody are business development officer Peter Gaitho Machua, administration manager Jane Jesanai Nakodony, senior electrical engineer Charles Nderitu Maitai, procurement officer Fredrick Kagosh Ogenga and Francis Omondi Obure, a director of Aero Dispenser Valve Ltd.
THE CASE
In 2014, the KPC board passed a resolution that, given the urgency of the matter, the company would go for direct single sourcing from US manufacturer Cla-Val Company Limited of Costa Mesa, USA.
The project was to cost Sh59 million and Sh22 million in taxes.
The KPC, however, never contacted Cla-Val. It instead, KPC approached a Canadian company, Ms Allied Inspection and Testing Inc, which was charging Sh660 million for the contract, 814 percent of the cost that had been approved by the board.
By the time the EACC noticed suspicious activities and stopped further payments, the KPC had already paid, upfront, Sh254 million ($2.5 million).
Allied Inspection and Testing then approached Cla-Val seeking to purchase the valves on behalf of KPC.