A man believed to be one of the suspects in Equity Bank’s Sh 1.4 billion heist has been arraigned in court.
John Karima Wainaina is accused of being part of a money laundering syndicate that stole Sh 1,499,465,831.29 from the lender between 1st June and 31st July 2024.
Wainaina appeared before Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi where the Banking Fraud Investigations Unit (BFIU) made an application to detain him for 14 days to allow them to conclude investigations.
BFIU Inspector Chrispinus Sore Shibanda told the court that Equity Bank reported that on the above mentioned dates, numerous fraudulent debit transactions amounting to Sh 1,499,465,831.29 were made from the bank’s internal Salaries Remittance General Ledger account Number 0001***100774 and credited to several non-Equity Bank (K) Limited accounts.
Officer Shibanda said that in all instances, fictitious narrations regarding the actual source of funds were made in the bank’s systems in order to conceal or disguise the nature, source, location, disposition or movement of the funds.
According to the investigator, preliminary investigation has established that among the primary beneficiary accounts were accounts opened in the name of the respondent and or in the name of proxy companies associated with him which were credited with the stolen funds.
BFIU said it has information that Wainaina is a member of a larger organized group that is a well-structured with every individual assigned his/her duties in order to facilitate the commissioning and omission of the crimes starting from recruitment of the targeted bank staff, penetration of the bank system and identifying/recruiting both natural/artificial proxy persons whose accounts would be used to launder the proceeds of crime.
“The applicant avers that intelligent gathered information identifies the respondent as a recruiter of the companies and or persons used as proxies/agents whose accounts were used to launder the stolen funds,” Inspector Shibanda added.
The court heard that the investigation unit needs to ascertain documentary evidence, electronic evidence, CCTV footage of different points where Wainaina is believed to have met with his recruits to plan, execute and receive the stolen funds in hard cash which shall help to further place him at the scene.
“The applicant reasonably believes that the respondent was involved in the alleged offence and his release before obtaining documentary evidence, electronic evidence, CCTV footage and recording of witness statements may greatly jeopardize the intended recoveries and investigation being undertaken,” the officer added.
In his affidavit , Shibanda said that Wainaina was arrested on 9th November 2024 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on his way back to Kenya from China where he had run to immediately he learned of the ongoing investigations.
This, the court heard, makes him a flight risk should he be released on bail.
Wainaina will be detained at Kileleshwa Police Station pending ruling on the application on 13th November 2024.
