An official of a State firm was paid Sh3.3 million by a company linked to Sh180 million scam at youth fund.
Former Youth Enterprise Development Fund Chairman Bruce Odhiambo was paid Sh3.3 million by Quorandum Limited, a parliamentary committee heard Tuesday.
Bank statements tabled by Standard Chartered Bank senior officials before the Public Investments Committee (PIC) indicated that Quorandum transferred money from the bank to Odhiambo’s Co-operative Bank account.
The money was paid on different dates between 2015 and 2016 by Quorandum Director Mukuria Ngamau ostensibly for supply and consultancy services Odhiambo rendered.
In proceedings that lasted close to two hours, the Standard Chartered Bank officials who had been treated as friends of the committee were forced to give the statements on oath when PIC members accused them of being ‘dodgy’ about the questions asked.
According to David Idoru, the head of retail banking at Standard Chartered Bank, Odhiambo, Ezekiel Owuor and Amico Industries are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the Sh49m that was transferred to the bank from Quorandum account at Chase Bank.
A Mr Owuorr was paid over Sh9 million while Amico Industries was paid Sh4.2 million for supplies to Quorandum. It was not, however, clear what services Owour offered to the company.
Mr Idoru told PIC members led by Eldas MP Adan Keynan that Owour’s cash was later transferred to his Barclays Bank account.
Dormant account
He told PIC that before Quorandum received the Sh49 million transfer from Chase Bank, its account was dormant with negative Sh11,380 since its opening in 2002.
Idoru also said Ngamau, who is a co-director with his wife Doreen Waithera, withdrew millions using different transactions between March 2015 and March 2016.
The Keynan-led committee was told that the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had asked Standard Chartered Bank to freeze accounts of Quorantum while they undertook investigations.
However, Idoru said that Ngamau’s account was still open for transaction given that the DCI did not include it among the accounts to be frozen.
Idoru told the committee that the bank had done due diligence and would report suspicious transactions to the Financial Reporting Centre.
