Ex-NSSF boss, three brokers jailed for 14 years over loss of Sh1.2bn

Former NSSF investment manager Francis Zuriels Moturi at the Anti-corruption court on January 31, 2022. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison or pay a fine of Sh2.4 billion over the loss of Sh1,2 billion at the fund. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NMG

Former National Social Security Fund (NSSF) investment manager Francis Zuriels Moturi has been slapped with a 14-year prison term or pay a fine of Sh2.404 billion over the loss of Sh1.2 billion at the fund over a decade ago.

Mr Moturi, 72, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, deceiving principal (giving false or misleading statements to the employer), and occasioning loss of funds. He was sentenced to two and three years consecutively for the first two counts or to pay a fine of Sh2 million for each offence.

On the third count, the court ruled that he pays a fine twice the amount lost, which is Sh2.4 billion, or serve a jail term of nine years. The sentences will run consecutively.

Also to suffer a similar fate are former bosses of stock brokerage firm Discount Securities Ltd (DSL), now defunct. The former executive director David Ndirangu, Wilfred Mungoro (ex-Finance director) and Isaac Nyakundi, a former investments manager, will serve 14-year prison terms or pay a fine of Sh876 million each.

The court also directed the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to recover Sh4.8 billion from the statutory manager of the collapsed stockbroker. The brokerage firm went bust in 2009 on what was blamed on fraudulent transactions by the firm’s employees and was placed under liquidation.

The court rejected pleas for leniency, saying evidence proved that the four conspired to defraud the pensioners’ fund.

Read: Ex-NSSF boss, three brokers found guilty of Sh1.4bn fraud

The Anti-corruption chief magistrate Lawrence Mugambi said although they did not receive a cent from the fraud, they abused the authority bestowed on them.