Bambala MCA and two former senior county officials over the alleged fraudulent loss of Sh51,495,253 from the Garissa County Government.
MCA Abdi Ibrahim Daar, former Garissa County Director of Accounting Services Mohamud Dubow Korane, and former Senior Principal Economist Yussuf Bethe Ali, were charged alongside Qorjarey Enterprise and General Supplies Limited before Principal Magistrate Hon. Jackson Omwange.
They face 27 counts relating to conspiracy to commit an economic crime, fraudulent acquisition of public property, abuse of office and forgery. All pleaded not guilty.
Court heard that the offences were committed between September 14, 2021, and July 1, 2022, and include irregular payments for emergency food supplies, water trucking services and office furniture allegedly supplied to the County Government of Garissa but never delivered.
Prosecution told court that between April 5 and June 30, 2022, the accused conspired to facilitate the transfer of Sh51,495,253 to the company.
The fraudulent acquisition charge specifically relates to payments processed between April 7 and June 30, 2022.
Korane, who served as Director of Accounting Services at the time of this transaction, was charged with five counts of abuse of office for allegedly approving payments on various dates in April, May and June 2022.
Further, he is also charged with forgery of payment vouchers dated March 29, April 5, April 29, May 24 and June 15, 2022.
Ali, the former Senior Principal Economist, is charged with abusing his office by raising invoices in the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) on April 6, April 14, May 4 and June 28β29, 2022, thereby facilitating the disputed payments.
The MCA faces charges of conspiracy, fraudulent acquisition of public property, forgery and uttering false documents.
He allegedly presented forged payment documents to commercial banks between April and July 2022.
The court granted each accused a bond of Sh5 million with one surety or an alternative cash bail of Sh2 million, revising earlier terms of Sh10 million bond or Sh5 million cash bail.
The case will be mentioned on March 24 with hearing scheduled on a priority basis from May 4 to 7.
