Fraud case against Keter pushed to next year : The Standard

NAIROBI, KENYA: A case in which Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter is being accused of forging Treasury bills valued at Sh633 million has been pushed to next year due lack of evidence documents. The matter that was to be heard on Monday, was pushed to next year because the prosecution said some Treasury bills expected to be used as evidence has been misplaced but they are yet to locate them. Appearing before Milimani Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi, Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Daniel Karuri said some 42 Treasury bills have been misplaced at the office when things were being moved from one point to another. “The documents have just been misplaced but not lost, I am confident to say that we will locate them,” said Karuri.

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The lawyer for defense Kimutai Bosek had opposed an application by the prosecution and requested the court to grant them only one hour to find the documents. “The argument by the prosecution that the documents have been misplaced is just a waste of time and court process, they should be able to locate them in an hours’ time,” said Bosek. He wanted the court to direct that the matter be heard as early as possible because Keter is a Member of Parliament for Nandi Hills who needs to concentrate on official duties. In response, Karuri said that he cannot guarantee that the documents could have been found by December 18, 2018 and requested the court to allow his application for an adjournment. In the case, Keter is charged alongside two co-directors of Desai Industries - Madat Chatur and Arthur Sakwa.

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The prosecution has told the court that they have lined up 13 witnesses and 16 exhibits in the case. The three were nabbed in July this year after allegedly presenting a set of forged Treasury bills which were purportedly issued by the CBK a number of years ago. On February 19, 2018 they were charged with 11 counts of forgery and conspiracy to defraud the Central Bank of Kenya of Treasury Bills worth Sh633m. The three however denied all charges and were released on Sh2m cash bail each. They were accused of attempted theft after they presented the Treasury Bills which they intended to cash for that amount.

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They claimed that the certificates were issued against cash they lent to state in the year 1990. Magistrate Andayi on Monday allowed an application for adjournment and set the date for mention as January 31, 2019 when the court is expected to confirm whether the documents have been found before hearing. The matter will be mentioned on January 31, 2019.

Related Topics

Nandi Hills MP Alfred KeterCentral Bank of Kenya