The Directorate of Criminal investigations (DCI) has detailed how Mathira Member of parliament Rigathi gachagua acquired Ksh202M illegally.
In a statement, the Kinoti-led agency detailed how the Kenya Kwanza running mate manipulated the youths of the country to acquire the amount in question through fraudulent tender deals.
According to the DCI, the amount in question was wired from different government agencies to Rafiki Micro Finance reportedly owned by the suspect.
“The Directorate of Criminal investigations welcomes yesterday’s ruling by High Court Judge Esther Maina, directing Mathira Member of Parliament Rigathi Gachagua to forfeit Ksh200million to the state which he acquired fraudulently from government agencies through corrupt deals,
“This is after the legislator failed to prove to the court how he obtained the money, after it was wired from different government agencies to Rafiki Micro-Finance,”the statement reads in parts.
Gachagua used different companies to secure tenders
DCI revealed that Gachagua used different companies to fradulently secure government tenders using proxies that had allegedly registered over 20 companies.
According to them, the legislator obtained over Ksh1.7billion from approximately 10 government ministries, state departments, parastatals and county governments paid through the micro finance bank he owns.
“The MP and two of his trusted female associates approached youths and women to register companies and open accounts at Rafiki micro-finance bank, then used his influence and blackmail to scur tenders for the companies. However, one of Rigathi’s trusted confidants and Personal assistant Julianne Jahenda, was made a signatory in all the accounts opened by the suppliers at the micro-finance” DCI wrote.
DCI added that through the orders of the MP the youths were issued loans by the micro-finance and assisted to supply the required good.
Gachagua supplies faulty goods
This according to the DCI, was a well orchestrated and executed plan to squander the tax payers’ money since the goods broke down immediately after they were delivered, leading to the loss of hundreds of millions belonging to the tax payers’.
DCI added that in the plan, hospitals were the most targeted owing to the efforts by county governments to equip their health facilities so as to offer specialized health services to the public
“In one such deal in 2014, a county basd in central Kenya received medical equipment worth Kh27.4million for supply of dialysis machines and a water treatment plant, the tender for supply of the equipment was awarded to 13 companies all allied to Rigathi, however the payment was made in a single voucher through Rafiki Micro Finance, then transferred to Rigathi’s personal accounts,
“This is despite thee fact that one of the dialysis machines and the water treatment plant supplied were not functional, prompting the national government through Managed Equipment Scheme (MES) to come through by supplying eight dialysis machines and a water treatment plant that are currently in use at the hospital,”the statement reads in parts.
HOW MATHIRA MP RIGATHI GACHAGUA USED YOUTHS TO LAUNDER TAXPAYERS MONEY IN FRAUDULENT TENDER DEALS (A Thread)
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) July 29, 2022
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations welcomes yesterday’s ruling by High Court Judge Esther Maina, directing Mathira Member of Parliament Rigathi Gachagua,
Further the DCI pointed out how a hospital at the South coast received a faulty incinerator worth Ksh12.7million from one of Rigathi’s associates at the expense of tax payers’ money used to pay for the equipment,
Within the same time span, a county in Western also fell victim of the circumstances after they traded with the sharp-tongue lawmaker for a supply of medical equipment worth Ksh123.1million.
Immediately after the tenders were paid to the proxies account belong to the legislator, Jahenda( Rigathi’s trusted confidants and Personal assistant) would transfer the money to other accounts belonging to Gachagua.
Gachagua deposits money to keep himself off from hawk-eyed detectives
Consequently, Gachagua would deposit the amount accumulated into other accounts to block any suspicion from detectives.
“The poor youths would be compelled to sign blank cheques that would later be cashed and the money deposited to Rigathi’s personal accounts. The seasoned sleuths also established that there were funds going into Rigathi’s accounts from loans and inter-company transfers, indicating that he was the ultimate beneficiary of the funds received from the counties. The poor suppliers were then left paying for the loans that they acquired at the Micro finance and supplied junks to county hospital,
“It is through the painstaking investigations by sleuths from the Serious Crimes Unit that this high level of fraud was detected, leading to the freezing of Ksh201,911,371.28 belonging to the MP by the Assets Recovery Agency,” DCI added.
The agency further disclosed that Jahenda who oprated an Mpesa shop and another female associate had also received Ksh254million unaccounted for.
