A court in Nairobi ordered the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) to investigate lawyer Danstan Omari and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives in an alleged Sh2 million extortion scheme.
Justice Nixon Sifuna of the Milimani Anti-corruption ordered the anti-graft body to record statements from Richard Tsado Bala and Lot Ziko Tsado, both Nigerians and directors of Vital Quest International.
The two Nigerians had complained against the detectives, lawyer Omari and his client Ann Wambui Ndung’u.
“I further direct the Director of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) forthwith to take statements from the Applicants and thoroughly investigate and take action on the extortion allegations that the Applicants have in this
Application made against the DCl officers who have been handling the Applicant, including the allegations regarding the Sh2 million paid by the applicants,” he said.
Justice Sifuna termed the allegations serious and weighty, and also barred the police from arresting the two Nigerians who were also granted each Sh300,000 anticipatory bail. This was in regard to an investigation that was ongoing.
The detectives, who said they were investigating the foreigners and their company, used one of the company’s local directors to extort money from them, the Nigerians claimed.
The two foreigners in an application and affidavit filed in court claimed the detectives demanded the bribe so as not to prefer charges of engaging in a business in the country without a work permit.
In their response, the DCI officers and Wambui told the court that the money was lawyer Omari’s legal fees but the foreigners have maintained that Omari agreed legal fee was Sh50,000 which they had paid.
“The applicants have in their application stated that Omari’s agreed legal fees was a mere Sh50,000. They have further stated that the said Sh2 million was on Omari’s instructions paid by Electronic Money Transfer, in three tranches, with each tranche going to a different person/bank account,” Justice Sifuna said in the ruling.
The ruling said the money was to go to Omari’s bank account.
The second one to the bank account of one Ms Matina Swiga, an Advocate in Omari’s law firm and the third one to the bank account of another person.
To support the allegations in their affidavits, the foreigners attached emails, letters, phone text messages as well as a bank statement of account from the Diamond Trust Bank, T-Mall Branch in the name of Vital Quest International Limited detailing how the alleged extortion scheme was orchestrated.
“Interestingly despite the applicants damning allegations and affidavits, the DCI casually responded to the application by way of mere grounds of opposition hence have not answered the questions and issues raised by the applications. Which are serious and weighty,” the judge noted.
“This Court is not persuaded that it should proceed mechanically, blindly and naively, as to confine itself to facts relating only to bail, and close its eyes and ears to other relevant and/or connected facts stated in the Application and the responses,” he ruled.
“A court, unlike a dog on a leash, has in arriving at a just and legally sufficient determination, the right to consider all the relevant matters and facts pleaded or proffered by the parties in the pleadings,” he added.
The judge noted that the extortion allegations by the investors touch on the integrity of the entire investigations and the court will neither keep its hands off such actions, nor shut its eyes and ears to that.
“The DCI being a public institution, the actions of its officers and staff should be subjected to scrutiny and need to be objective, professional, civil and just. It does not matter that the subjects are foreign nationals who, as lawyer Danstan Omari has argued, have no work permits. That is no licence for the DCI or other state operatives to treat them unfairly and/or extort them. Protection by law is not confined to Kenyan nationals only,” he ruled.
The case will be mentioned on February 6, 2024 for directions before the presiding Judge Kanyi Kimondo.
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