Fugitive Kenyan billionaire Humphrey Kariuki arrested –

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A Kenyan News Day Exclusive

A contingent of heavily armed sleuths from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations this morning staged a dramatic arrest of fugitive businessman Humphrey Kariuki, Kenyan News Day can authoritatively report.

Kariuki who was wanted questioning by the DCI was arrested alongside his wife Nyawira Wangari and daughter from their hideout in one of his palatial residences in Upmarket Kileleshwa.

Sources told Kenyan News Day that the wealthy businessman tried to cut a deal with arresting officers who promptly rejected his offer.

Kariuki jetted into the country early this morning in his executive jet and was reportedly confident he would use his connections to sort issues with the DCI and KRA.

At the time of filing this report, the Kariuki’s were being held at Kileleshwa Police Station.

Before his arrest, Kenyan authorities in the process of formally requesting Interpol to issue a Red Notice to locate and provisionally arrest Kariuki pending extradition from Zambia where he was reportedly taking refuge.

An Interpol Red Notice is issued by the General Secretariat at the request of any member country based on a valid national arrest warrant.

A former junior bank clerk, Kariuki has been on the run since the early this year when he learnt sleuths from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and tax inspectors from Kenya Revenue Authority were on his trail. Sources told us Central Bank Anti-Fraud Unit were also taking a keen interest in the investigation.

Meanwhile, former Kilome Member of Parliament Harun Mwau has reportedly vowed to teach the runaway businessman Humphrey Kariuki a lesson of his life.

Kenyan News Day learnt that the semi-retired Mwau is livid that one of his fledglings had made bold move to influence his ejection from businesses the own together.

The two Kenya billionaires who have been business partners for nearly two decades now but recently experienced a dramatic falling out resulting to intense media speculation.

According to sources close to the two wealthy businessmen, the duo are embroiled in a vicious property dispute with the ultra-modern shopping complex in the exclusive Karen surburb known as the Hub, worth at least Sh10 billion shillings, at the centre of the disagreement.

Between them, Mwau and Kariuki control huge multi-billion businesses within Kenya and the region covering most key sectors of the economy such as oil and gas, agri-business, finance and banking, manufacturing, real estate, transport and logistics, tourism and hospitality.

Kenyan News Day was able to track down a close aide to Mwau who revealed that the former anti-corruption tsar had totally dismissed Kariuki as an easily excitible boy who is yet to understand intrigues of mega business.

“The Boss literally picked this boy from the gutters where he was selling tea and mandazi; today after accumulating some few million shillings he dares to challenge those who built him”, said our source referring to Mwau by his popular code-name “The Boss”.

Kariuki previously owned and operated a popular coffee shop known as Green Corner in down-town Nairobi before an associate introduced him to Mwau. It was after this introduction that Kariuki’s fortunes changed overnight.

But that upward trajectory was never without drama. Kariuki was many occasions warming his way into lucrative deals such as when he engineered the deportation of his French business partner so that he could grab and keep to himself ‘Wines Of The World’, a high end winery distribution business they co-owned.

It is through Wines of The World that Kariuki developed a keen interest alcohol business and founded Africa Spirits Limited (ASL) which was last week subject of a multi-agency raid.

The raid at Kariuki’s Thika-based African Spirits Ltd found huge quantities of smuggled ethanol, 312,000 litres of illicit liquor and 21 million counterfeit revenue stamps.

Kariuki is now wanted by police in Kenya who are investigating wide-ranging forgery, tax evasion and other criminal charges connected with his alcohol manufacturing business.