[SIZE=6]Court freezes accounts of 8 companies in new NYS scam[/SIZE]
FRIDAY JANUARY 27 2017
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The bank accounts of eight companies have been frozen by the High Court in a Sh220 million fresh scandal at the National Youth Service (NYS).
Justice Lydia Achode froze the accounts following an application by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
The companies are Fastlane Freight Forwarders Ltd, Springboard Capital Ltd, Silverberg Enterprises, Credible Health Centre, Singapore Motors Ltd, Elvis Exclusive Textile Limited, Mash Logistics and Astrol Petroleum Company Limited and one account belonging to a Mr Reuben Muna.
But Springboard, through lawyer Titus Koceyo, has filed a case seeking to have its accounts unfrozen, saying it had advanced a Sh1.5 million loan to Fastlane.
Mr Koceyo says Springboard, a financial institution, was in genuine business and was not aware the money Fastlane deposited as a loan repayment was from the NYS.
According to the EACC, Sh209 million was transferred from the NYS to the Fastlane account.
After receiving the cash, Fastlane made a disbursement of Sh1.5 million to Springboard.
The court froze four Fastlane accounts in different banks containing Sh1.5 million, Sh962,380, 3.9 million and Sh15 million, respectively.
The other firms had the following amounts in their accounts: Springboard (Sh1.3 million), Mash Logistics (Sh2.8 million), Silverberg (Sh3 million), Credible Health Centre (Sh2.8 million), Singapore (Sh12.3 million), Mr Muna (Sh2.4 million), Elvis Textiles (Sh2.1 million) and Astrol Sh1 million.
The alleged payment to Fastlane was for clearing and forwarding services provided on behalf of the NYS.
The company allegedly imported heavy machinery for the NYS and raised an invoice on December 14, 2014, but payments were not made until two years later, on June 15, 2015.
The payments were cleared by then Devolution Principal Secretary Peter Mangiti.
EACC forensic investigator Makupe Chiwaya says in a sworn affidavit that preliminary investigations show the Sh209 million payment was “made on the basis of suspicious documentation.”
http://www.nation.co.ke/news/bank-accounts-frozen-in-new-NYS-scam/1056-3789784-nen4e/index.html