The Director of Press Service at the Office of Prime Cabinet Secretary Swaleh Salim and five others were Wednesday released on Sh400,000 each in suspected extorting of foreigners.
Milimani Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi granted the six cash bail and directed them to report to the Investigating officer once a week.
The magistrate also directed the suspects to deposit their traveling documents and warned them from interfering with witnesses in the case.
“There are no compelling reasons and the investigations can be done when they are out adding that the application by the prosecution lacks merit,” he ruled.
He argued that no charges have been preferred against the suspects whom the prosecution are investigating offenses of abuse of office and conspiracy to defraud.
He said the application for pre charge detention lacks merit.
All the suspects were warned against interfering with witnesses.
Swaleh was barred from contacting his colleagues.
On Monday, the police sought to detain Swaleh and the five for 14 days pending investigations.
The five include Otieno Japolo Michael, Terry Kemunto Sese, Daniel Omondi Gogo, John Musundi Wabomba and James William Mokokha.
Through their lawyers led by Danstan Omari, they requested for bail pending investigations stating that the police has not provided compelling reasons to detain them.
The offenses have not been established as there is no complainant in the case.
“This is a tactic to have Swaleh dismissed from work. He is innocent because the police have not stated who the complainant is in the case,” Omari said.
He added that the suspects are not a flight risk and should be granted bail.
Inspector Nicholas Njoroge through a miscellaneous application said the six were arrested on June 23, at Mudavadi’s office on suspicion of having committed various offences.
They are suspected of committing several offences namely conspiracy to commit a felony, attempt to obtain money by false pretence, personating a person employed in the public service and abuse of office.
The six include, Otieno Japolo Michael, Terry Kemunto, Daniel Omondi Gogo, Salim Swaleh Abdullah, John Musundi Wabomba and James William Mokokha.
Njoroge said the complainants are foreigners from Dubai and South Africa respectively who were lured to the country with an aim of securing a tender to contract two stadia for the upcoming 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
“The respondents were arrested in Director of Press Service’s office whose is incharge of Swaleh”, the officer states in the affidavit.
The complainants were made to believe that after the meeting at Prime Cabinet’s office, they would meet other government officials from the ministry of Interior, Ministry of Sport and youth affairs, two senators from budget committee of Parliament and sport committee members with an aim of securing the tender of building the stadia.
Njoroge said upon entering the said office, Swaleh paved way allowing the other suspects to hold a meeting with the foreigners where Japolo personated himself as the chairman of Government Delivery Unit domiciled at the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and would assist the foreigners in speeding up the tendering process.
The complainants were to part with USD45,000 equivalent Sh5,850,000 as a registration fee before securing the tender.
The respondents breached security protocol by entering the office without appointment thus need to investigate who aided their entry and other possible missions.
“We need more time to record statements from the math contractor bered in UAE and who was also a victim, to attain company registrations details from relevant offices in kenya, Dubai and South Africa,” Njoroge told the court
He added that the nature of the investigation is complex as it involves foreigners and communication channel must observe diplomatic protocol thus sufficient time it needed to get the responses.
He added the six are likely to interfere with the ongoing Investigations if released.
“We seek custodial order to have the respondent detained at Capitol Hill police station for 14 working days.”
Makokha alias Major George Nyapindi had been involved in another Sh140 million fraud at the former office of the then Deputy President William Ruto.
He was among the suspects who conned Charles Gathii, the director Microhouse Technologies, in a fake laptop tender.
The matter is pending before Milimani Law courts.
“This deception also meant switching legitimate name tags with fake ones on office doors to advance the scams,” the Secretary, Strategic Communication at Musalia Mudavadi’s office Peter Warutere Warutere said.
Warutere added that the cabal of fraudsters and Government officers facilitated their operations at the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs (OPCS-MFDA) at Kenya Railways office.
“Further investigations by relevant law enforcement agencies are ongoing to track and arrest other conspirators who may have been involved,” he said.
Warutere said the arrests followed a tipoff that alerted OPCS-MFDA security, who then mounted intense surveillance at the Railways Office to disrupt the reported nefarious acts of impersonation and misuse of the facility by the fraudsters.
According to OPCS-MFDA, the surveillance involved tracking a group masquerading as visitors. They would individually gain entrance into the Railways Building on different dates and times by falsifying their identities, as VIP guests or Government Officers, and the officers they purported to be visiting.
“Their victims were mainly foreigners who would be shepherded into the Railways Building ostensibly to meet high ranking Government officers for favours in exchange of bribes,” he said.
He added that the surveillance was able to also track and identify their co-conspirators, among them Government officers who facilitated their dastardly activities.
“Those arrested include Salim Swaleh, Director of OPCS Press Service, in whose office the swindlers were found nested with fake door switch-nametags,” Warutere said.
Preliminary investigations further revealed that the government officers arrested had perfected “renting” office space to criminals by either vacating their offices for the fraudsters use, or deceptively misrepresenting themselves.
“Upon being smoked out in one of the OPCS-MFDA Railway offices where the confidence tricksters had settled in wait for their victims on Saturday, the group had the audacity of attempting to bribe their way out,” he added.