Bahraini National Arrested at JKIA Loses ksh110 Million to Govt

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The Bahraini national identified as Khalid Jameel Saeed nabbed with over Ksh110 million on January 27 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is counting losses after the Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) approved the confiscation of the funds by the state.

In a case ruled by Justice Esther Maina, ARA suspected that the money, which was in dollar denominations, was proceeds of money laundering.

Justice Maina ordered that airport authorities from JKIA should surrender the seized money to ARA for preservation for 90 days.

“An order is hereby issued for preservation and seizure of the cash amounting to USD977,075 (Ksh110,950,262) found in possession of the respondent and currently in the custody of customs officials at JKIA,” the Judge ordered.

The money had been held as an exhibit pending investigations by the detectives to identify whether Khalid is part of a ‘Wash Wash’ or money laundering syndicate.

The man was arrested after he tried to bypass airport security with the cash stashed in bags. He was destined to fly to Manama, Bahrain, by Egyptian Airlines.

When asked the source of the cash, the foreigner failed to give the accounts and relevant documents in line with the law. Khalid also failed to give a reason why he was carrying heaps of money that could have been banked.

“On inquiring from him as to the purpose of carrying the bulky cash, he did not provide a reasonable explanation nor documentation in support of the possession of the cash,” ARA stated through its lawyer Jennifer Gitiri.

Investigators also received a lead from Financial Report Centre (FRC), which reported that Khalid had tried to deposit the money in several banks, but his efforts were futile.

The post Bahraini National Arrested at JKIA Loses ksh110 Million to Govt appeared first on LitKenya.

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