The Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission alleged that Migori governor Okoth Obado was the beneficiary of false contracts through which millions of money was wired to his three children
The EACC dived on the assets of Obado’s allies suspected to have been acquired fraudulently.
EACC demanded that the governor’s alleged proxies and 14 of their firms that benefited from the multi-billion contracts compelled to refund Ksh2 billion allegedly looted from the Migori County government.
According to EACC Obado’s children received money from his proxies in various accounts held at banks in Australia and Scotland.
The governor’s children named as Dan Ochola Okoth, Jerry Zachary Okoth and Susan Scarlet Okoth.
The High Court issued orders barring the owners from selling property valued at Ksh382 million.
The anti-corruption body named Peter Odoyo Kwaga, a close associate of Obado, as the mastermind of the theft who roped in six members of his family including his mother.
Additionally, 42 of the 65 properties the High Court put a caveat on belong to Kwaga, while he transferred 17 after detectives raided his home.
“The commission has established that in just four days after it carried out a search on the 1st defendant’s (Kwaga) residence, he transferred 17 parcels out of the 59 parcels registered in his name to the interested parties herein,” EACC stated.
“All the aforesaid [parcels were transferred in a single day, 19 March 2018. This is clear indication that the 1st defendant is in haste to defeat the efforts by the Commission to recover the said properties which the Commission demonstrated were acquired from the illicit wealth obtained from the county,” EAAC argued.
The anti-corruption commission claimed that the seven defendants used monies corruptly obtained from the county to acquire the properties and developed them in a bid to hide the proceeds from the fictitious contracts.
EACC valuers put the properties in question at over Ksh382 million as the commission accused Kwaga of transferring more than Ksh55 million to various offshore financial institutions in China and Hong Kong.