Kenya: EACC Arrests Treasury Officials, Business Owners Over Alleged Sh1.57bn Profit Programme Fraud
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested senior National Treasury officials and business owners over an alleged Sh1.57 billion fraud scheme involving funds meant to help small-scale farmers access affordable financing.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in Kenya has arrested nine senior National Treasury officials and business owners accused of a Sh1.57 billion fraud scheme involving the Rural Outreach of Financial Innovations and Technologies (PROFIT) Programme. The programme aimed to provide affordable financing for small-scale farmers between 2013/2014 and 2023/2024.
According to EACC, the money was fraudulently disbursed from the National Treasury Development Account to 23 private entities, eight companies, and 15 business names for goods and services never supplied or rendered. Nine suspects, including program coordinator John Ngure Kabutha and senior accountants, were arrested on Tuesday.
They face charges such as unlawful acquisition of public property, abuse of office, money laundering, and uttering false documents. The arrests are the result of investigations that uncovered an elaborate scheme involving false and forged documents and an unauthorized bank account. The suspects are expected to be arraigned before Milimani Law Courts on Wednesday, August 19.
EACC plans to pursue criminal prosecution and the recovery of the allegedly acquired funds and assets.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
