By Peter Ochieng
Businesswoman Nancy Kigunzu alias ‘Mathe Wa Ngara’ has lost Sh13.4 million to the State.
The High Court on Tuesday ruled that the money seized from Kigunzu when police raided her house last year, be forfeited to the state.
She was apprehended on August 21, 2023, after police nabbed a large quantity of bhang in her Nairobi’s Ngara estate, house.
Judge Esther Maina ruled that since the money bears all the hallmarks of proceeds of crime, the only alternative is to forfeit it to the State.
“Having found that the money is proceeds of crime, I have no alternative but to forfeit it to the State, the government of Kenya as per the provided,” she noted.
“The only reasonable conclusion that this court can draw is that the money was kept in that manner to avoid detection by the authorities. The money falls within the definition of proceeds of crime,” she added.
The Assets Recovery Authority (ARA) filed an application in court, saying there are reasonable grounds to believe that the money was a direct or indirect benefit, profits or proceeds of crime obtained from a complex laundering scheme and hence should be forfeited to the State.
Justice Maina in her ruling added that there was proof that the police found a substance at her residence, which was later identified as cannabis sativa.
“It is also not disputed that the police found three persons in the residence in circumstances that suggest that they were mules used in trafficking the illegal substance,” said the judge.
“That an order be and is hereby issued declaring that the sum of Kenya Shillings 13, 474, 520 found in the respondent’s residence but held at the Central Bank of Kenya is proceeds of crime and therefore liable for forfeiture to the government of Kenya,” the judge said.
‘Mathee Wa Ngara’ denied allegations of drug trafficking, before being released on a Sh1 million bail.