Mutua tells Senate First Choice among 25 recruitment agencies de-registered

Lead petitioner Kimutai Kirui (right) and a section of victims of First Choice Recruitment Agency after appearing before the Senate Committee on Labour and Social Welfare on October 3, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua Thursday told Senate that First Choice Recruitment Agency that was accused of allegedly defrauding 8,000 youths over Sh1 billion is among 25 recruitment agencies that have been deregistered or denied registration. Dr Mutua who appeared before the Senate Labour Committee said Judy Chepchirchir and Faith Gichuhi,the directors of First Choice are barred from registering, operating or managing any other recruitment agency or company. The CS regretted that thousands of youths were duped with promises of better jobs abroad. He said all recruitment agencies should get government approval to operate. "I would like to apologise to the thousands of youths who were duped that they will get jobs abroad and ended up losing millions of shillings. The Ministry of Labour has stopped the operations of First Choice Recruitment Agency after its registration certificate expired on February 18, 2023," said Mutua. The CS noted that there are 592 accredited employment agencies with valid National Employment Registration as per September 10 with the list being updated on daily basis and available in the public domain www.neaims.go.ke. Assets Recovery Agency Director Alice Mate told the Senate Committee that they have identified seven suspects who have featured prominently in their investigations despite the fact that they were not mentioned in the committee report. Mate revealed that four properties linked to one of the suspects in Nairobi, Eldoret and Machakos counties have already been identified and efforts are underway trace them and establish property for the other suspects. She revealed that a caveat has been placed on 21 vehicles registered under the names of the key suspects to preserve their integrity pending investigations to establish whether they constitute proceeds of fraud. "The Asset Recovery Agency has established that the main suspect Judy Chepchirchir is associated with 11 companies where she is either a co-director or bank account signatory, with First Choice Recruitment Agency operating seven bank accounts domiciled in five different banks in the country," said Mate. Assets Recovery Agency Director told the Senate Committee that between February 19, 2020 and May 11, 2023 the accounts operated by the recruitment agency received about Sh 300 million which was withdrawn in cash just below the reporting threshold clearly depicting alleged money laundering scheme. Mate said that 27 bank accounts belonging to the key suspects are being analysed to establish the money trail since majority of the accounts have zero balances while the rest have negligible balances despite the accounts having transacted huge sums of money during the period of investigations. She revealed that their preliminary investigations show that Chepchirchir and her accomplices have registered property with proxies and so far the agency has identified some third parties who are currently being profiled. "While the Asset Recovery Agency appreciates acceptance of the Senate to grant it 90 days to undertake comprehensive investigation into the allegations of fraud by First Choice Recruitment Agency it is worth noting that the investigation points to a complex money laundering scheme to conceal the ill-gotten economic gains," said Mate. The Senate Labour Committee Vice Chairman George Mbugua said the committee has recommended a fine of Sh 500,000 for Chepchirchir for failing to honour summons and also for the police to arrest her and institute criminal investigations. The committee has further recommended the confiscation of the property of the directors of First Choice Recruitment agencies so as to compensate the victims who are yet to get justice and also for the withdrawal of criminal charges that were aimed to intimidate them. Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei told the committee he was aware of several cases of families that have been broken, youths who have lost their lives and some who are depressed after they disposed their families' properties in the hopes of getting good jobs that were nonexistent. "The Labour Cabinet Secretary should investigate as to why some recruitment agencies hold the passports of the recruits which is illegal, this open day slavery that must be stopped," said Cherargei. Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba said that the government should consider prioritising youths who were defrauded by First Choice whenever there are job opportunities in order to cushion them.

Mutua tells Senate First Choice among 25 recruitment agencies de-registered

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Mutua tells Senate First Choice among 25 recruitment agencies de-registered

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