Three family members jailed over Sh113.2m fraud at Such Enterprises

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has secured convictions against three Kisumu family members who defrauded Such Enterprises Limited of Sh113.2 million through diverted customer payments and wholesale goods.

In a statement by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Monday, Christopher Joseph Okal, his brother Vincent Anyumba and their mother Grace Minayo Okal were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison by the Kisumu Magistrate’s Court for money laundering and related offences.

Senior Principal Magistrate Fatuma Rashid found the three guilty of all six counts, including money laundering, acquiring and possessing proceeds of crime and conspiracy to commit a felony.

The fraudulent scheme was carried out between October 2020 and July 2021, with the court hearing that Okal, who worked as an accountant at the company, manipulated its accounting system to conceal transactions and divert customer payments.

Evidence presented by the prosecution showed that customers were instructed to deposit money for goods into bank and mobile money accounts linked to the three family members instead of the company’s official accounts.

A forensic examination established that Okal used his access privileges to alter records, while an audit identified Sh113,227,529 that had not been accounted for.

Magistrate Rashid described Okal as the “mastermind” of the fraud, saying he had availed his mother’s and brother’s accounts to conceal the trail of money from customers.

The court rejected the defence assertion that the transactions were legitimate business arrangements, finding that prosecution evidence demonstrated a coordinated scheme to defraud the company and conceal the proceeds.

Okal received additional five-year sentences for stealing by servant, fraudulent false accounting and stealing, while his mother and brother were each sentenced to three years for stealing.

The three also received five-year terms for conspiracy to commit a felony. The sentences will run concurrently, meaning they will serve the longest applicable term.

The convicts have 14 days to appeal against both their convictions and sentences.