A Nairobi businessman was Wednesday charged at the Milimani Law Courts with conspiring to defraud Impala Reel Company Limited of Sh50 million.
Elius Kemboi Korir was also charged with receiving goods worth Sh8 million from Impala Reel Company Limited while pretending he had a genuine supply contract.
He pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Prosecution Counsel James Gachoka asked court not to grant him bail on grounds that he is a flight risk.
The court will rule on bail application on December 23, 2024.
The arraignment comes amid a chase between the accused and authorities for the past six month, leading to the intervention of a highly placed multi-agency operation to nab him.
He was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while attempting to flee the country.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has lined up three witnesses in the case.
Korir of Woman and Youth Against Aids and Poverty (WAYAAP) NGO was nabbed as he prepared to fly out.
Being a key official in the NGO that poses as a charity organization out to support the vulnerable in the society, Kemboi has been using his office to reach out to persons and entities with enticing tender offers, only to disappear with the deliveries once the supplies are received.
In one classic case that exposed him, he and an accomplice identified as Halima Samson Mwongela (also an official at WAYAAP) conspired to defraud three suppliers of goods worth over Sh32.8 million, goods they alleged were being procured for distribution as aid to vulnerable persons.
After the delivery was made, the officials of the NGO instead offered them for sale in the local market, thereafter becoming elusive.
Attempts by the companies to recover their goods or monies were met with intimidating statements, frustrations that informed the decision to report at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Headquarters.
The case was taken up by the Operation Support Unit who launched a manhunt for the NGO park that had since holed up completely.
Getting wind that the sleuths were hot on his trail, the ring leader who is not new to police cells plotted an escape plan.
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