High Court quashes acquittal of two ex-PSs, two businessmen in Sh3.5 billion Anglo Leasing case

The High Court has ordered that three former Permanent Secretaries and two international businessmen who were acquitted in the Sh3.5 billion Anglo Leasing scandal be put on their defense.

While overturning their acquittal, High Court judge Benjamin Musyoka on Wednesday set aside the January 2024 decision that found former Permanent Secretaries Joseph Magari, Dave Mwangi, and David Onyonka, alongside businessmen Deepak Kamani and Rashmi Kamani, had no case to answer.

They will defend themselves on charges related to the controversial security tender.

One of the accused, Rasmi Chamanlal Kamani, has since died.

The Anglo Leasing scandal involved a series of security-related procurement contracts awarded to shadowy foreign companies, and remains one of Kenya's most high-profile corruption cases.

Justice Musyoki ruled that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had established a prima facie case against the accused, showing that the project was authorised by the accused persons, including then-Interior Minister Chris Murungaru, without any budgetary allocation.

"I hereby set aside the acquittal by the trial magistrate dated January 19, 2024, and order the accused persons to be placed on their defense on counts 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7," the judge directed.

Justice Musyoki criticised the prosecution for failing to call former Interior Minister Murungaru to clarify whether the multi-billion shilling agreement he signed had been budgeted for. He also faulted Murungaru for not establishing clear policy guidelines on executing the contract after it had received legal approval from the then-Attorney General.

The judge found that evidence from 37 prosecution witnesses indicated that Sound Day Corporation, a company allegedly linked to the Kamanis, failed to deliver the security equipment that had been procured for the Kenya Police.

He further noted that the user department, the National Police Service, did not confirm receipt of the equipment, and that then-Commissioner of Police, Edwin Nyasemba, was not called as a witness to verify delivery.

Regarding the Kamanis, the judge stated that they must explain why they received €1.2 million (Sh180 million) through Apex Finance Corporation, which was at the centre of the Anglo Leasing transactions. He ruled that receiving such funds suggested they knew the money was proceeds of crime.

The Kamanis had denied any links to Apex Finance Corporation, a company registered in Mauritius on January 8, 1998. Both Apex Finance and Sound Day Corporation were single-sourced by the Government of Kenya to supply security equipment to the Kenya Police Laboratory.

The judge also observed that Brian Mills, who signed the multi-million euro contract on behalf of Sound Day Corporation, was excluded from the proceedings without explanation.

He ordered all five accused to appear before the Milimani Anti-Corruption Chief Magistrate's Court to present their defence.

However, the judge upheld their acquittal on one charge, conspiracy to defraud the Government of Kenya of €40 million (approximately Sh5,902,800,000), stating that the prosecution had failed to provide evidence that the accused persons had met and agreed to execute the fraudulent scheme.