Three members of the same family have been sentenced to prison after a Kisumu court found them guilty of stealing and laundering more than Sh113 million belonging to a local company.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) secured the convictions and sentences against Christopher Joseph Okal, his brother Vincent Anyumba and their mother Grace Minayo Okal following a fraud scheme targeting Kisumu-based Such Enterprises Limited.
In a statement on Monday, November 2, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said Senior Principal Magistrate Fatuma Rashid found the three guilty on all six counts brought against them.
The court sentenced each of the accused to 10 years in prison for money laundering and acquisition and possession of proceeds of crime. They also received an additional five-year sentence each for conspiracy to commit a felony.
Christopher, who worked as an accountant at Such Enterprises Limited, received a further five-year sentence for stealing by servant, fraudulent false accounting and stealing. His mother and brother were each handed an additional three-year sentence for stealing.
The case arose from the fraudulent diversion of customer payments and wholesale goods valued at Sh113,227,529 between October 2020 and July 2021.
According to the prosecution, Christopher manipulated the company’s accounting system by creating fictitious transactions and redirecting customer payments to bank and mobile money accounts linked to his mother and brother.
Investigations established that customers received instructions to deposit payments for goods into the accounts instead of the company’s official channels.
The prosecution presented evidence from company employees, customers, bank officials, forensic examiners and investigating officers to demonstrate how the scheme operated.
A forensic document examination and an audit report further revealed alterations to company records and unexplained transactions amounting to more than Sh113 million.
During the trial, the three accused denied the charges and maintained that the transactions involved legitimate business arrangements.
However, Magistrate Rashid rejected their defence, finding that the prosecution had established a coordinated scheme to defraud the company and conceal the proceeds.
The magistrate identified Christopher as the mastermind of the operation, noting that he used accounts belonging to his co-accused to conceal the trail of the diverted payments.
The ODPP said the prosecution was led by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Daniel Karuri and Principal Prosecution Counsel Douglas Moseti.
The court ordered that all the sentences run concurrently, meaning the convicts will serve the longest applicable prison term rather than adding up all the sentences.
The three family members have 14 days to appeal against both their convictions and sentences.
