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Kenyan court freezes $48.6m suspected to have been laundered by Nigerians

Published

3 years ago

April 8, 2022

A high court in Kenya has ordered the immediate freezing of bank accounts where the sum of $48.6 million was deposited on the suspicion that the amount was the proceed from laundered money in a fraud scheme perpetrated by some Kenyans and Nigerians allegedly backed by some powerful politicians.

According to Kenya’s Assets Recovery Agency (KARA), the millions were transferred from multiple offshore accounts, including Nigeria, into the accounts of three Kenyan companies, Remix Capital Ltd, OIT Africa Ltd and Avalon Offshore Logistics Ltd.

The amount, a total of Sh5.6 billion ($48.6 million) is currently frozen in two Kenyan banks including Equity Bank and UBA Kenya Ltd, after being flagged by the KARA.

The Agency noted that suspicions were raised when the directors of the companies who were Nigerian and Kenyan nationals, refused to explain the sources of the millions, leading to discrete investigation into the funds.

The Assets Recovery Agency has, however, petitioned that the is money should be forfeited to the Kenyan government.

“The pattern of transaction in the accounts in issue and the activities of respondents depict money laundering activities and this court ought to issue the orders sought,” the petition by the Assets Recovery Agency said.

A report by a local media privy to the discovery of the money said they were allegedly “laundered by two Kenyans and two Nigerians who are believed to have been used as fronts by some powerful Kenyan politicians.”

“The Assets Recovery Agency was tipped off after the millions were transferred from multiple offshore accounts (including Nigeria) into the accounts of these three Kenyan companies, Remix Capital Ltd, OIT Africa Ltd and Avalon Offshore Logistics Ltd.

“The agency received information on a suspected case of money laundering schemes and acquisition of proceeds of crime involving multiple money transactions conducted through the bank accounts of the respondents in US dollars and Kenya shillings mainly from foreign jurisdiction whose source has no legitimate explanation.

“Consequently, the agency obtained a court order to freeze the accounts in which the millions were deposited. The six accounts will remain frozen until the agency’s petition to have the money forfeited to the Kenyan Government is determined,” the media reported.

As further punishment, the two banks involved, Equity Bank and UBA Kenya, could face penalties from the Central Bank of Kenya for facilitating the ‘illegal’ transactions in line with Kenya’s anti-money laundering laws which require banks to report suspicious transactions to the appropriate authorities.

Related Topics:Featured fraud Kenya Money Laundering

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Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.

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Dangote refinery begins petroleum sales to West Africa

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an indication to traders that the activities of its mega-refinery might soon disrupt regional fuel markets, Nigeria’s private Dangote Petroleum Refinery has started exporting refined petroleum products to neighbouring West African nations.

According to a Bloomberg story on Tuesday, a tanker had transported a consignment of petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to seas off the coast of Togo, a nearby West African nation. The article cited data from Vortexa, Kpler, Precise Intelligence, a port report, and a ship-tracking tool.

According to the source, a CL Jane Austen recently departed west after loading over 300,000 barrels from Dangote.

Recall that Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, the chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Authority, stated last month that the nation is thinking of purchasing petroleum products from the Dangote refinery in order to reduce the approximately $400 million it spends each month on more costly exports from Europe.

Speaking at the OTL Africa Downstream Oil Conference in Lagos, the chairman of NPA, Ghana, said that by eliminating freight expenses, buying from Nigeria instead of Europe will lower the cost of other products and services.

“If the refinery reaches 650,000bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,” Hamid said.

Two weeks ago, it was announced that the refinery would start exporting fuel to Namibia, Angola, and South Africa. Four more African nations—Niger Republic, Chad, Burkina Faso, and Central Africa Republic—had also begun talks with the refinery, it was said.

According to a very reliable source who spoke directly to one of our reporters, the management of the refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day was in the advanced stages of negotiations with the nations to begin lifting petroleum.

“I can confirm to you that talks are actually at the advanced stage with Ghana, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa, while the initial discussion is coming up with Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic,” the source said.

The petroleum product shipment is currently floating off the coast of Lome, which is a well-liked location for ship-to-ship transfers, according to the source.

Furthermore, the final destination of the cargo of the CL Jane Austen is uncertain.

Despite being off Togo, the region is frequently utilised for ship-to-ship transfers, thus the gasoline may eventually be transported elsewhere.

“While the shipment is tiny in the context of the global gasoline market, it signals the ramp-up of Dangote’s production and the potential to export significant volumes of gasoline beyond Nigeria, which could upend regional markets.”

Last month, the refinery sent its first shipment of petrol by sea to Lagos, a neighbouring commercial centre.

Under the regulatory statute, the Federal Government last month terminated the state-owned oil company’s monopoly on purchasing gasoline from the plant for domestic use, but it has permitted the ongoing importation of fuel from the US and Europe.