Economy
Bahraini accuses Kenya of defying court order to release Sh120m seized at JKIA
Thursday February 16 2023
A Bahraini national has accused a state agency of failing to release $ 977,075 (about Sh120 million) that was seized from him in January last year after the High Court ruled that the money was not tainted as claimed.
Mr Khalid Jameel Saeed moved back to court this month saying the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) has refused to release the millions in defiance of a court ruling, made in December.
In the ruling on December 15, Justice Esther Maina ruled that the agency failed to prove that the money was part of a money laundering scheme and ordered ARA to release the money to Mr Saeed.
However, the Bahraini said on Thursday that he was yet to get back the money, yet ARA has not appealed against the decision.
His lawyer told Justice Maina that ARA is yet to comply with the decision and has also not responded to the application he has filed.
“This is a matter that should not be pending in court. The court should allow the application to compel the agency to release the money,” his lawyer said.
The money was seized from Mr Saeed on January 28, last year at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), after he failed to declare the cash to the customs officials.
The agency later obtained orders freezing the money, pending an application for forfeiture to the state.
But Justice Maina said Mr Saeed discharged the burden of proving the source of the funds when he was asked to do so.
“The court hereby finds that the applicant (ARA) did not prove its case on a balance of probabilities,” the judge said as she ordered the agency to release the money to Mr Saeed.
The Bahraini was to depart the county on EgyptAir flight number MS0841 at 7.30 am on January 28, when customs officials noticed that he was carrying bulky cash.
The agency said when asked why he was carrying bulky cash, the foreigner allegedly failed to give a reasonable explanation or a document to show why he had the cash.
Section 12(1) read together with the 2nd Schedule of the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act requires a person carrying more than $10,000 in or out of Kenya, to declare the money to the customs officials.
“The failure of the Respondent to declare being in possession of funds in excess of $10,000 in cash and not having a reasonable explanation nor supporting documents to support the legitimacy of the cash raises reasonable suspicion of a money laundering scheme executed in an effort to conceal, the nature, source, location, disposition, or movement of the funds,” ARA stated in court documents.
