Anglo Leasing Probe Moves To Switzerland Daily Nation 29 09 2004 Page: 1
Anti-corruption police have flown to Switzerland in the hunt for three men linked to the Sh7 billion Anglo Leasing and Finance scandal, it was revealed yesterday.
They want to track down the three to get their side of the story of how the contracts came to be awarded without going through the usual tendering system – and how the firm came to be paid when little, if any, work was done.
Two detectives from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission will also travel to Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States to make more inquiries into the scandal.
The officers want to talk to Swiss businessman Michael Gruring, the managing director of Anglo Leasing and Finance, consultant Dr Meryln Kettering, and the firm representative Mr Collin Flynn, who is based in the UK, in Liverpool.
Security agencies of the six countries have agreed to help the investigators reach the people behind the firm.
Ethics PS John Githongo told the Nation in July that the Government had sought legal help from the six countries to resolve the Anglo Leasing mystery and said it was the first time Kenya had sought specific help under the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) scheme.
Anglo Leasing and Finance had given addresses in all six countries, he added.
A preliminary investigation by the anti-corruption commission found consultant Dr Kettering held the key to the Sh7 billion affair.
He was said to be the finance firms linkman in Kenya.
The report said Dr Kettering left the country in June, before the investigators could question him, to attend the annual convention of the Brethren Church of the USA, which had seconded him to Kenya.
Investigations had ground to a halt during the past four months, with senior Government officials insisting it would not be complete until key players in Europe and the US were interrogated.
The report of the two detectives will be merged with the preliminary report, which contains documents related to the scandal and statements from local people who handled the contracts.
The final report will then be forwarded to President Kibaki and Attorney General Amos Wako. Mr Wako will decide who should be charged in court.
In the first of the two contracts under investigation, Anglo Leasing and Finance was given an order worth Sh2.7 billion, without competition, to supply a terrorist-proof passports system for the Immigration department, which comes under the Office of the Vice-President and Ministry for Home Affairs.
In the second, the firm was awarded a contract worth Sh4 billion – again, without competition – for building and fitting out three forensic science laboratories for the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in the Office of the President.
No work was done on either contract.
As the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was investigating the passports deal it stumbled on the CID laboratories project and once again, Anglo Leasing and Finance returned the money paid as commitment fee and the subsequent two instalments made by the Narc Government worth $4.7 million (Sh376 million).
Since the scandal was revealed in April this year, two permanent secretaries have been sacked together with high ranking officials from the Treasury and the Attorney-Generals chambers.
The Government says all the money paid to the Anglo Leasing and Finance had been returned – and that all the promissory notes signed by the Finance ministry for the two projects had been returned to the Government.
Among those questioned so far have been the two sacked PSs – Mr Joseph Magari of Finance and Mr Sylvester Mwaliko of Home Affairs – and two local businessmen, Mr Jimmy Wanjigi and Mr Deepak Kamani.
The Anglo Leasing affair is among high-profile cases inherited by the new director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), retired Appeal Court judge Mr Aaron Ringera.
Mr Ringera was appointed early this month by President Kibaki, along with three assistant directors: Ms Fatuma Sichale, legal services; Dr Smokin Wanjala (research, policy and preventive services); and Dr John Mutonyi (investigations and assets recovery).