Kenya has requested the British government to hand over fugitive billionaire Yagnesh Devani to face charges related to the Sh7.6 billion Triton scandal.
The move by Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji is part of efforts to have the businessman, who has been on the run since 2009, stand trial in what is now the country’s longest active corruption trial.
“We have made all the necessary arrangements to ensure that he is back in Kenya to face trial once he exceeds all his appeals in the UK,” Mr Haji told the Sunday Nation.
The DPP revealed Mr Devani filed a case at the UK Supreme Court to stop his extradition to Kenya.
The fugitive moved to the UK Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal, in a ruling in May, allowed his extradition.
“If he loses the case at the Supreme Court, he will be on the first flight home so that he faces trial for the crimes which he committed,” the DPP said.
The partnership between Kenyan investigators and British prosecutors is part of increased collaboration involving the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney-General and other investigative agencies with several countries.
Mr Haji said that the efforts have already started to bear fruits.
“The conviction of Sirisia MP John Waluke is a revelation of the success that has been realised from our cross-border collaborations in investigations and training.
“For instance, we are currently training 150 of our prosecutors on financial crimes in partnership with the Attorney General Alliance,” the DPP said.
The Attorney General Alliance, an organisation which was formed in the US 25 years ago, is made up of over 2,000 legal professionals consisting of attorneys-general, prosecutors, law enforcement officers and subject matter experts.
It provides training for prosecutors, judges and investigators in the areas of transnational crime such as human trafficking, trafficking in firearms, drug trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, internet crimes and corruption in various African countries.
The Kenyan prosecutors are being trained by Mr Marcus Green, who served as the Executive Assistant Attorney-General for the state of New Jersey and Xavier Cunningham, an assistant United States attorney at the US Department of Justice.
As part of the increased collaborations with international partners, on May 28, the court allowed one of the directors of Emirates National Oil Company Ltd, one of the companies Mr Devani defrauded, to testify via video link from Singapore.