E-Clips:- Business Pictorial - Wall Of Silence Blocks Anglo Leasing Probe

Attempts by Kenyas graft-busters to uncover the masterminds behind the Sh7 billion Anglo Leasing scandal have run into a wall of silence. Almost incredibly, top Government officials who handled the dubious contracts have deliberately frustrated investigations by refusing to reveal the names of the people behind the conspiracy, it was revealed yesterday.

Investigators are now convinced powerful figures holding key positions in the Government are the shadows behind Anglo Leasing, and that was why those who have recorded statements were scared into silence. And adding to the problem, police from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission have been unable to trace and question two foreigners who they believe might hold the key to unlocking the biggest scandal to rock the Kibaki administration.

Their failure comes almost a year since the companys dubious dealings were first exposed in Parliament. Both the managing director of Anglo Leasing, Swiss businessman Michel Gruring, and a US businessman who used to live in Nairobi, Dr Merlyn Kettering, who was a consultant for Forensic Laboratories – one of the companies involved in the fraud – are crucial to shedding light on the affairs but police said they had been dodging the investigating team.

So now, even though huge amounts of resources have been devoted to conducting both local and international investigations, the prime movers of the scandal remain as faceless as the Anglo Leasing company itself. It also emerged that the investigators have been unable to unearth the people given a downpayment for the contracts nor those who hurriedly ordered a Swiss bank to wire back the money after the scandal was uncovered.

Two weeks ago, Kacc director Aaron Ringera said his team was planning to forward the investigation file to the Attorney General before the end of this week. The Nation confirmed the file had not left the offices of Kacc at Integrity Centre in Nairobi by last night. Officials said the investigators were working on the finer details before the file was forwarded to the AG for prosecution.

They said they will recommend that the AG prosecutes some of the civil servants who handled the Anglo Leasing contracts. But they were quick to point out that the people being taken to court were only pawns in the affair, while the big names behind the fraud remained unknown. However, the investigators have been ordered to continue trying to find the mysterious people behind Anglo Leasing and to intensify the hunt for Mr Gruring and Dr Kettering.

The shadowy Anglo Leasing and Finance Company entered into two shady contracts which saw the Moi and Kibaki governments pay out billions of shillings for work that was never even started. The first contract was to supply a terrorist-proof passports system for the Immigration Department for Sh2.7 billion, while the second, for Sh4 billion, was to build forensic science laboratories for the CID. The firm was given huge commission payments but when the scandal was uncovered the money was promptly returned . . . leading Justice minister Kiraitu Murungi to declare that Anglo Leasing was "the scandal that never was."

In spite of his forthright remark, investigators believe crimes were committed in that there was a conspiracy to defraud the successive governments involving possible abuse of office, even though ultimately the swindle failed. Officials from the Treasury, Home Affairs ministry and the Attorney Generals office who handled the deals have recorded statements with anti-corruption investigators but all refused to name the people behind the scandal.

Since it was revealed in April last year, two permanent secretaries – Mr Joseph Magari of the Treasury and Mr Sylvester Mwaliko of Home Affairs – have been sacked, together with high ranking officials from the Treasury and the Attorney-Generals chambers. All have recorded statements with anti-corruption detectives in connection with the passports deal. Two local businessmen, Mr Jimmy Wanjigi and Mr Deepak Kamani, who were named in Parliament as being linked to the deal have also been interviewed by the Kacc officials.

And for the first time yesterday, it emerged that the two anti-corruption investigators who last year went to France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK and the United States failed to trace either Mr Gruring or Mr Kettering. They told the Nation the investigators were given excellent cooperation in all the countries they visited. However, when they visited Switzerland they called Mr Gruring who avoided meeting them. He claimed he would arrange for a meeting at a later date but is yet to take place.

Dr Kettering slipped out of Kenya when the scandal was exposed and he has not returned. Investigators have staked out his Nairobi home on several occasions but he has not shown up. Sources said Dr Ketterings lawyer went to Kaccs offices at Integrity Centre when he knew his client was being sought and told the investigators that he would return to the country next month. Mr Kamani is reported to have left the country about four months ago for what his lawyer said was a business trip to India. He too would return to Kenya next month

A former development consultant for the US government and a business associate of the Kamani family, Dr Kettering was also a consultant for the computerisation of Kenya Airports Authority in the late 1990s. The company handling the job, Dyntech, has an address at Fulwood Park in Liverpool – the home of the late Mr Ashwin Ruparell, according to records in Companies House. Mr Ruparells wife, Sudha, a 47-year-old Kenyan, owns Saagar Associates of Liverpool, which acted as Anglo Leasings agent in the UK.

It was Saagars accounts manager, Colin Flynn, who signed both contracts; for the passports and the laboratories. Mrs Ruparell, who has recently moved back to Kenya, is the daughter of Mr Chamanlal V Kamani, a 72-year-old multimillionaire patriarch of a business family which enjoyed close links with senior officials in the Moi regime. The family, through their company Kamsons Ltd., was responsible for the import of Mahindra jeeps from India for the police. Their poor performance turned the police into a laughing stock.

Mrs Ruparells brother is Mr Deepak Kamani, the man interviewed after being named over the passports deal. The integrity of President Kibakis administration, elected two years ago on a wave of anti-corruption fervour, appears to be dragging its feet in unearthing and prosecuting public service officials linked to the attempted swindle.