By Reporter
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has secured the conviction of three people by a Kisumu court over a fraudulent scheme involving KSh 113.2 million belonging to Kisumu-based Such Enterprises Limited.
Senior Principal Magistrate Fatuma Rashid found Mr Christopher Joseph Okal, Ms Grace Minayo Okal and Mr Victor Anyumba guilty of all six counts as charged by the prosecution, led by Principal Prosecution Counsel Mr Douglas Moseti.
The prosecution charged the three convicts, who are members of the same family, with conspiracy to commit a felony, contrary to Section 393 of the Penal Code.
They also faced charges of money laundering, contrary to Section 3(a), (b), (i), (ii) and (iii), as read with Section 16(1)(a) of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act, as well as acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime, contrary to Section 4(a), (b) and (c), read with Section 16(1)(a) of the same Act.
Mr Okal, who worked as an accountant at Such Enterprises Limited, faced additional charges of stealing by servant, contrary to Section 281; fraudulent false accounting, contrary to Section 330(b); and stealing, contrary to Section 275, as read with Section 268 of the Penal Code.
The charges arose from the alleged fraudulent diversion of customer payments and wholesale goods worth KSh 113.2 million from Such Enterprises Limited in Kisumu on diverse dates between October 2020 and July 2021.
The prosecution called witnesses, including company employees, customers, bank officials, forensic examiners and investigating officers, to demonstrate to the court how the convicts operated their fraud scheme.
The court heard that Mr Okal manipulated the company’s accounting system by creating fictitious transactions and diverting customer payments to accounts linked to his co-convicts.
Evidence presented by the prosecution, including forensic document examination, showed that Mr Okal used his access privileges to alter records and conceal transactions. Similarly, an audit report identified KSh 113,227,529 that had not been accounted for.
Further, Ms Rashid heard that customers had been instructed to deposit money for goods into bank and mobile money accounts associated with the convicts rather than the company’s official accounts.
The court rejected the convicts’ assertion that the transactions were legitimate business arrangements, finding that the prosecution evidence demonstrated a coordinated scheme to defraud the company and conceal the proceeds.
She was persuaded by the prosecution’s submission that Mr Okal was the mastermind of the fraud scheme and that, in an attempt to hide the trail of the money received from customers, he provided the accounts of Ms Okal and Mr Anyumba into which the sales proceeds were deposited.
The court also found Ms Okal and Mr Anyumba guilty of stealing and participating in money-laundering activities linked to the diverted payments.
After weighing the evidence produced by the prosecution against the defence, Ms Rashid found that the prosecution had proved its case against the three on all counts. Consequently, she proceeded to convict them pursuant to Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code, with sentencing set for 29 October 2026.
