The High Court has ordered five parcels of land and a station wagon belonging to the Ngrita family be forfeited to the state as crime proceeds in the NYS scandal.
Justice Mumbi Ngugi said Phylis Njeri Ngirita, Lucy Wambui Ngirita and Jeremiah Ngirita were mere “minnows” in the entire scheme to rob the public of National Youth Service Funds. But that does not mean they should not be pursued for recovery of the funds, she said.
“What is expected of the agency and other state agencies charged with investigation of corruption offences as well as with recovery of ill-gotten wealth is that they will pursue the other beneficiaries with the same vigour and subject them to similar proceedings to recover the public funds lost in nefarious schemes such as were perpetrated at the NYS,” Ngugi said.
She ruled the Sh400 million deposited into the Ngiritas’ accounts by the NYS was done fraudulently and that the properties the family bought in the period they obtained the funds from NYS are proceeds of crime.
The Ngiritas have to demonstrate that the properties were not purchased from proceeds of crime and that the Sh400 million deposited in their accounts from the NYS were proceeds of legitimate business.
The Ngiritas explained they started small supply businesses in 1996, 2003 and 2003. They then grew into huge enterprises with several divisions. They said they have cultivated and supplied grains, vegetables and fruits including maize, cabbages, tomatoes, watermelons and bananas to the NYS and other entities.
They also claimed to have supplied uniforms, firewood, bread, mandazi and mahamri to the NYS.
Had it not been for their efforts, sometimes in difficult circumances, 10,000 youth recruits at NYS camps would have starved, they claimed.
They presented documents to prove the same but some dated back to 2004-05. In the case of Phyllis Ngrita, for instance, she said she supplied goods worth Sh38 million to the NYS.
An analysis of the four LPOs that Phylis, trading as Njewanga Enterprises relies on, shows that the total amount supported by evidence is Sh5.8 million and not Sh38 million.
The orders were for the supply of watermelon and cabbages worth Sh1.5 million; English potatoes, watermelon and cabbages worth Sh1.2 million; watermelon worth Sh3 million and cabbages, onions and green grams worth Sh785,060 – making a total of Sh5.8 million. Other bulk supply documents were produced in court.
But Mumbi said none of the documents explain the vast sums of money deposited in the accounts between 2015 and 2018.
The Ngiritas claimed to have grown their entities into huge enterprises but did not produce evidence.
“Huge enterprises with divisions and compartments have books of accounts, stock registers, audited accounts and tax returns. And to be able to supply goods worth in excess of Sh400 million, one would expect to have warehouses where the stock is kept,” Mumbi said.
The Assets Recovery Agency lodged the case seeking forfeiture of the cars and properties on grounds they were proceeds of crime. The land is in Naivasha, Nakuru and Kitale.
The agency said their investigations into the Ngiritas’ bank statements and documents concerning the accounts established they received funds fraudulently from the NYS.
In her analysis, Mumbi observed that Phylis received from the NYS Sh57 million in her personal account, Lucy – trading as Ngiwaco and Waluco enterprises – Sh263 million and Jeremiah Sh87 million. Between them, they received approximately Sh400 million from the NYS, in around two years.
Other bank statements revealed that between November 2015 June and June 2017, Phyllis received Sh57.2 million from the NYS in her personal KCB account
In a 24-hour period, between October 17 and 18, 2016, she received in the same bank account Sh197.4 million, Sh385 million, Sh391 million, Sh7.5 million, Sh8.5 million and Sh7.1 million.
“In the period during which the Ngiritas received the funds from the NYS, they went on a shopping spree,” the court said.