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| Felista Nyamathira Njoroge with her boyfriend |
Felista Nyamathira Njoroge, a 23-year-old student, received a Ksh102 million love present from her rich lover abroad. The High Court has permitted the state to confiscate the cash.
On Thursday, May 25, 2023, Esther Maina issued a ruling allowing the Kenyan government to keep the money in Nyamathira's two Co-operative Bank accounts after determining that the gift came from a network of money launderers.
Since millionaire Marc De Mesel, a Belgian YouTube crypto star hadn't clarified and acknowledged the origin of the money, the court ruled that the money should be forfeited.
In a historic decision, Justice Maina said that the philanthropist had the chance to elaborate on how he makes the money that he freely gives to young women throughout the globe, but he chose not to do so.
Without a justification, according to Justice Maina, the state gains from the funds that the foreign crypto identity wires clandestinely into the nation.
Maina noted that the proof presented in court by both the government and the two lovers proved there was apparent money laundering while approving the Asset Recovery Agency's (ARA) request to have the cash designated as the earnings of crime.
Justice Maina decided that the documentation presented by the boyfriend "did not show the place of origin of the money that was subsequently wired to the Kenya woman's acquaintance" after analysing and reviewing it.
She continued by saying that the lack of transparency regarding the origin of the cash is most likely unlawful.
She said that as a result, the court has no choice but to order that the funds in the two bank accounts be handed over to the state.
In 2021, Nyamathira made headlines when she claimed that DCI agents had stolen money that a Belgian boyfriend had given to her.
The lady claimed that the country's criminal agency had mistreated her by keeping the Ksh102 million that had been provided to her for personal use.
Investigators were suspicious when the evidence presented in court revealed that the millions were placed in an account at Co-operative Bank in four transactions between August 4 and August 6, 2021.
Despite the cash-recovery lawsuit the state agency filed, the beneficiary has been kept anonymous the whole time.
The tycoon gained notoriety for sending Ksh257 million in wire transfers to three additional Kenyan women: Serah Wambui (Ksh100 million), Jane Wangui Kago (Ksh49 million), and Tabby Wambuku Kago (Ksh108 million).
On August 4 and 5, the Belgian wired $229,980 and $231,980, respectively. Mesel sent $224,980 and $227,980 to Nyamathira's bank account on August 6.
The Belgian citizen told the court in his transaction statement paperwork that Nyamathira, a student at the Nairobi Technical Institute, was "free to use the sum of money to guarantee financial independence for future generations of offspring."
He also testified before the court that he gave the lady the cash as a present because he loved her.
Although the source of the millions from the cryptocurrency trader was suspected, the funds were held awaiting the outcome of the recovery litigation.
The Belgian national and Nyamathira, according to ARA, may be complicit in a global money-laundering scam.
On January 26, 2022, a month after the ARA launched the lawsuit to collect the money, it became apparent that two opposing sets of solicitors were referring to distinct persons when they battled in court.
In her ruling, the court chose not to discuss Nyamathira's legal counsel in detail.
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