Migori Governor Okoth Obado and his co-accused have been detained until Monday pending the bail ruling on Sh73 million graft.
Obado was arrested alongside his four children for misappropriation of county funds and while appearing before Chief Magistrate Lawerence Mugambi, they denied the charges.
Through their lawyer Kiloko Kilukumi, the accused sought to be released on bail. However, Chief Magistrate Mugambi dismissed the application until Monday, August 31, 2020 when the bail ruling will be determined.
The Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji had given the go-ahead for his arrest and prosecution alongside23 others for embezzling Sh73.4 million from public coffers.
Read: Governor Obado Surrenders To EACC Following Arrest Order
The details of the embezzled funds reportedly happened between 2013/14 and 2016/17 financial years. Ultimately, investigations also showed that the companies belonged to persons closely related to Obado.
The companies are; Misoft Company Limited, Tarchdog Printers, Deltrack ICT services, Seletrack Consultants, Mactebac Contractors, Joyush Business, Swyfcon Engineering, Atinus Services, Kajulu business, Victorious Investment, Dolphins Softwares, Dankey Press and Pesulus Services.
The business proprietors are his three brothers: Jared Peter Kwaga, Patroba Ochanda and Joram Opala. The others were his mother, Penina Auma Otago and his sisters-in-law Christine Akinyi and Carolyne Onyango.
An audit trail further showed that Sh38.9 million was wired to his three children; Dan Okoth, Jerry Okoth, and Susan Okoth.
Read Also: DPP Orders Arrest Of Obado, His Four Children For Stealing Sh73.4 Million County Funds
In 2018, the commission alleged that Obado had through proxies and relatives siphoned Sh2 billion from county coffers.
Then, EACC said that 7 individuals linked with the county boss registered 16 companies that traded with the county government. They won tenders amounting to millions of shillings.
Those appearing on the list of suspects were: Jared Oluoch Kwaga, Christine Ochola, Carolyne Ochola, Joram Otieno, Patroba Otieno, Penina Otago and Robert Okeyo.
In a period of three years only, the aforementioned had made transactions worth Sh1, 971,179,180.
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