Abdullahi told Chief Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo on Wednesday that he withdrew upon the realisation that his clients in the Anglo Leasing case, Deepak, Chamanlal and Rashmi Kamani, are neither directors nor shareholders in Infotalent Limited, Sound Day Corporation or Apex Finance Corporation/MIKE KARIUKI
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi has withdrawn as the legal representative of three firms charged over what has become infamously known as the 2003/4 Anglo Leasing deals.
Abdullahi told Chief Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo on Wednesday that he withdrew upon the realisation that his clients in the Anglo Leasing case, Deepak, Chamanlal and Rashmi Kamani, are neither directors nor shareholders in Infotalent Limited, Sound Day Corporation or Apex Finance Corporation.
“We took at the heat of the moment if I may put it like that. But upon further reflection we realised that the nexus between these companies and my clients are at best very tenuous,” he submitted.
He went on to challenge the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko to use his “vast powers” to track down the companies’ directors down.
“The DPP as probably this court knows has wide reach throughout the world. Let him look for them, let him bring them to this court at a time of his choice and liking,” he submitted further.
And while admitting that he could not force Abdullahi to act for the companies, Tobiko challenged the claim that the Kamanis did not play an ownership role in them.
“There’s a lot that we could say about it but maybe at another forum,” Tobiko countered.
Sound Day and Apex Finance Corporation stand accused – together with eight others – of conspiring to commit an economic crime, “to wit, engaging in a scheme to defraud the Government of Kenya of Euros 40,000,000.”
The two companies also stand accused – together with Deepak, Chamanlal and Rashmi Kamani – of fraudulent acquisition of public property.
“Euros 1.2 million from the Ministry of Finance on the pretext that they were able to provide credit to the government of Kenya for purchase of security equipment under modernisation of police equipment and accessories project,” the charge sheet reads.
Former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President Dave Mwangi stands accused alongside the companies for, “failing to carry out due diligence test on Sound Day Corporation to ensure that it had professional, technical and legal capacity to enter into a contract for the modernisation of police equipment and accessories project.”
He and former Finance PS Joseph Magari also stand accused of improperly conferring a benefit to the company in relation to the above deal.
Infotalent on the other hand stands accused of “engaging in a scheme to defraud the Government of Kenya of Euros 59,688,250 through a supplier’s financing agreement for a Kenya Police project code named E-Cops.”
The E in E-Cops refers to the plugged computerisation of security, law and order systems and procedures.
As was the case earlier, Infotalent also stands accused of the fraudulent acquisition of half a billion together with the Kamanis who are described in the charge sheet as the, “beneficial owners of the assets in the account of Infotalent Limited.”
Former Finance Minister David Mwiraria, his PS Magari and Mwangi also face several counts of conferring improper benefit to Infotalent, for failing to ascertain their qualifications and for approving payment without confirmation of services rendered.
