Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa seems to be a marked man after he was re-arrested on Monday over claims of fraudulently obtaining and registering motor vehicles.
Echesa was later released after being questioned at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters, on Kiambu Road.
The former CS did not speak to the press on leaving the DCI offices on Monday evening, saying he was tired.
Echesa is alleged to have illegally acquired a Toyota Land Cruiser registration number KBZ 009J from Esther Kabura in 2016, according to an affidavit sworn by a detective from the Serious Crime Unit (SCU).
Detectives from the SCU and DCI also said the former CS is suspected to have fraudulently registered five high-end vehicles.
The vehicles were driven to DCI headquarters after the arrest.
Court papers show Kabura reported to the DCI headquarters on February 24 that Echesa had fraudulently obtained the vehicle from her husband who died in 2016.
The deceased was a close friend of Echesa and the latter would frequently hire his vehicle.
Kabura said after her husband’s death, she tried to repossess the car in vain, and later found out that Echesa had transferred the ownership of the vehicle to his name.
DCI officers on Monday raided Echesa’s Karen residence at around 9 am but Echesa refused to open the gate, insisting that he could only do that in the presence of his lawyer.
At around 11 am, the officers jumped over the gate and opened it, forcing Echesa to leave the house.
At around noon, his lawyer, former Kiambu magistrate Brian Khaemba, arrived at Echesa’s home where the detectives gave them the affidavit.
During the raid, five vehicles, including a black Toyota Land Cruiser V8, a Mercedes Benz, a Volkswagen Passat, a Toyota Lexus and a Ford Ranger truck, were taken from his home.
Khaemba said the deceased’s wife had earlier raised the complaint when Echesa was nominated to the position of the CS but he was cleared by detectives.
Military equipment
“The matter was raised and investigated and my client was cleared. The complainant is specific about the vehicle but the detectives have driven away all the vehicles found in the compound,” Khaemba said adding that the vehicle in question was not even within the compound.
The sleuths also obtained an order to search his residence, premises and offices and carted away documents, devices, motor vehicle or any information that may assist in investigations.
Echesa was arrested on February 13 over a fake Sh39 billion military equipment tender that involved a Poland-based company.
The matter is pending before court. Four other suspects were also arrested following the unearthing of the fake tender deal and have since been charged in court.
A police officer attached to the Harambee House Annex who was on duty when Echesa and the two foreigners visited the DP’s office, and who was critical to the investigation, was later found dead in his house in Villa Franca estate.
