A man discovered in possession of Ksh. 960 million in counterfeit money was sentenced to eight years in prison.
A citizen of Chad was found guilty on three charges of receiving counterfeit money totaling more than Ksh. 960 million in foreign exchange, and was sentenced to eight years in jail on each level.
Abdoulaye Tamba Kouro was found guilty of two counts of forgery and receiving money under false pretences. He also had papers that were intended to resemble real currency.
Based on evidence presented in Nairobi’s Milimani court, the accused was found in possession of 54,000 pieces of counterfeit US banknotes in denominations of $100 at the Sandalwood flat in Kilimani on October 1, 2018.
The same day, he was also caught in possession of 3,400 pieces of 500-euro notes and 19,000 pieces of 100-euro notes, totaling Ksh. 960,120,000 in cash.
He is accused of having falsely portrayed himself as someone who could invest USD 6,796 on behalf of a man only known as Makau Muteke in a company on March 9, 2017, one year before.
“In a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the prosecution, represented by Virginia Kariuki, informed the court that, based on the pre-sentence report submitted on November 21, 2023 by Probation and Aftercare Service, the convicted individual was not repentant of the offence and that he poses a risk of flight, necessitating a custodial sentence.”
“The prosecution called a total of seven witnesses and produced fifteen exhibits, and Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ekhubi agreed with them.”
Because of this, the accused was sentenced to four years in prison without the possibility of a fee for possessing counterfeit money; two years in prison without the possibility of a fine for forging; and a fine of Ksh. 400,000 or an additional two years in prison for acquiring money via deception.
The sentences will be served simultaneously, as Magistrate Ekhubi ordered.
2018 saw Abdoulaye facing more charges related to defrauding Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana of Ksh.76 million.
Mungatana had previously testified in court that he sold all of his assets in an attempt to become wealthy quickly, a strategy that failed to materialise and instead left him penniless.
In October of last year, Mungatana told a Nairobi court at a hearing that his late wife passed away unaware of the truth regarding their Karen property, which was one of his lost properties.