Whatever Happened To Mr. Paul Kamlesh Pattni…? Enquiry Minds wanna know…
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The man behind the biggest con in the nation’s history—the Goldenberg scandal—spoke as it emerged that a team of elite detectives picked to investigate the cause of the fire were looking into smuggling cartels that operate within two VIP lounges belonging to Mr. Pattni.
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The inquiries seek to establish whether there was any link between these and the fire which gutted the international arrivals section of the airport and dealt a blow to Nairobi’s standing as one of three major air travel hubs in Africa alongside Johannesburg and Addis Ababa.
The suspicions of arson are driven by assessments of investigators who found that the fire spread so fast that it can only have been fuelled by inflammable material.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) on August 1 forcibly took over duty-free shops belonging to Diplomatic Duty-Free Limited and Kenya Duty-Free, two firms associated with Mr. Pattni, following the expiry of their lease.
But in a major lapse, the security passes of many of the members of staff who worked at the shops were not withdrawn
On the investigations front, detectives told the Sunday Nation that unknown people have freely been doing business in the two VIP lounges associated with Mr. Pattni before being sneaked out by police and immigration officers who have unlimited security access to facilities at JKIA.
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The two VIP lounges are situated near the airside and Mr. Pattni has another office adjacent to the immigration office giving his staff unfettered access to key installations.
The investigators believe that the two VIP lounges are used for tax evasion, smuggling of humans and contraband. .
In May this year, the investigators said security officers at JKIA intercepted 134 strangers who were using the VIP lounges for unspecified business.
The arrest of the individuals resulted in the interdiction of a senior immigration official and the re-deployment of four others to Nyayo House headquarters.
Four anti-terrorism officers with unlimited security access who were discovered to have been negligent were transferred from the airport.
“The problem with JKIA is that there are too many interests. We have made various security recommendations which have been overruled by the JKIA management,” said one of the officers who spoke to the Sunday Nation.
According to the officials, the cartels and smuggling rings are entrenched and have key people placed in all areas of the airport.
“People sometimes come through these lounges from flights. They are shielded from the glare of the public and travel documents processed by privileged officers before they are whisked away by police and immigration officers. It is a tight-knit cartel that requires political will to crack,” said the officers.
A poorly-equipped fire brigade reacted slowly to a small fire at Kenya’s main airport, allowing it to grow into an inferno that destroyed the arrival hall Wednesday, forcing the airport to be closed and disrupting air traffic. Nairobi is the capital of East Africa’s largest economy, but public-sector services like police and fire units are hobbled by small budgets, corrupt money managers, and outdated or no equipment.
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Nairobi County doesn’t have a single working fire engine, the Daily Nation, a Nairobi newspaper, reported last month. One engine, the paper said, was auctioned in 2009 because the county hadn’t paid a $100 repair bill. An Associated Press reporter at the airport saw uniformed officers line up with buckets in hand, apparently to battle the blaze.
A top government official at the site of the fire said an initial assessment shows that a complacent response helped a small fire grow into an uncontrollable inferno. Some airport fire engines weren’t filled with water and others didn’t have the personnel to drive them, said the official, who insisted on anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release details of an ongoing investigation… :D:D:D
Investigators are also trying to establish the link between immigration officers and the fire that started in their offices.
According to officers, when the fire started in the immigration offices, it was small. However, it quickly spread through the ceiling of the airport making it unmanageable. Investigators say they are also looking at the theory that accelerants were used to ensure that the fire spread quickly and damage would be extensive.
“Accelerant substances, such as petroleum distillates or other chemicals that may be used as catalysts are very useful in spreading an intentionally set fire,” they said.
The report also states that the fire spread to KAA offices, airlines offices, customer service, and the anti-narcotics unit offices.
“All vital installations, including emergency operations command center, Safaricom mast, airport security offices, and police offices were housed in one building which happened to be the center of the fire.”