Monday, November 2, 2026 - Three family members have been sentenced to 10 years in prison each after being convicted of defrauding a Kisumu-based company, Such Enterprises Limited, of KSh113.2 million.
The convicts were identified
as Christopher Joseph Okal, his brother Vincent Anyumba and their mother Grace
Minayo Okal.
The Director of Public
Prosecutions (DPP) secured the convictions and sentences before the Kisumu
Magistrate's Court, where Senior Principal Magistrate Hon. Fatuma Rashid found
the three guilty of all six counts of money laundering as charged by the
prosecution.
They were each sentenced to
10 years in prison for money laundering and a further 10 years for acquiring
and possessing proceeds of crime, contrary to the Proceeds of Crime and
Anti-Money Laundering Act.
The three were also handed an
additional five-year sentence each for conspiracy to commit a felony under
Section 393 of the Penal Code.
Christopher Okal, who worked
as an accountant at Such Enterprises Limited, received additional five-year
sentences for stealing by servant and fraudulent false accounting, while his
mother and brother were each sentenced to three years for stealing.
The sentences will run
concurrently.
The charges arose from a
fraudulent scheme involving the diversion of customer payments and wholesale
goods worth KSh113,227,529 from the company between October 2020 and July 2021.
The court heard that Okal
manipulated the company's accounting system by creating fictitious transactions
and diverting customer payments into bank and mobile money accounts linked to
his co-accused.
Forensic document examination
established that he used his access privileges to alter records and conceal
transactions.
An audit report also
identified KSh113,227,529 that had not been accounted for.
Customers were allegedly
instructed to deposit payments for goods into accounts associated with the
three convicts instead of the company's official accounts.
The prosecution, led by
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Daniel Karuri and Principal Prosecution
Counsel Douglas Moseti, presented witnesses, including company employees,
customers, bank officials, forensic examiners and investigating officers.
The court rejected the
defence's argument that the transactions were legitimate business arrangements,
finding that the evidence demonstrated a coordinated scheme to defraud the
company and conceal the proceeds.
In her ruling, Hon. Rashid
described Christopher Okal as the mastermind of the fraud, saying he used
accounts belonging to his mother and brother to conceal the trail of money
diverted from customers.
The magistrate found that the
prosecution had proved its case against all three accused persons and convicted
them under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The convicts have 14 days to appeal against both their convictions and sentences.
The
Kenyan DAILY POST.
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