A husband and wife have been charged in court over the theft of more than Sh22 million from the National Oil Corporation of Kenya, in a case that investigators say involved fake payments and companies that never did any work.
The two, Gladys Kahaki Njubi and her husband Griffin Nyakang’o Omwenga, were arraigned alongside a third suspect, Nehemia Onyunge Kibegwa, before the Kibera Law Courts on Wednesday.
According to investigators from the Investigations Bureau under the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, the three are accused of working together to fraudulently siphon Sh22,151,983 from the State-owned oil firm.
The case came to light after the National Oil Corporation filed a complaint over suspicious payments made from its accounts. Detectives launched investigations and traced the scheme to Gladys, who was then working at the corporation as an assistant accountant.
Investigators say Gladys used her position to process payments to companies linked to her husband, even though the firms had never tendered for any work or offered services to National Oil.
Court documents show that Griffin had registered five companies — Zoccom Enterprises Limited, Eceny Ventures Limited, Earthcare Supplier Services, Sparktec Ventures Limited and Jaffer Petrofill Africa Limited — which together received nearly Sh22 million from the corporation.
To avoid raising suspicion, detectives said Gladys used genuine documents belonging to legitimate suppliers who were doing business with National Oil, while secretly directing the payments to her husband’s companies.
The third suspect, Nehemia Onyunge Kibegwa, a director of Kensons Constructions Limited, is also accused of receiving millions of shillings through the same scheme despite having no contractual relationship with the corporation.
The file was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) after completing investigations which approved charges including conspiracy to defraud, theft by servant, forgery and possession of proceeds of crime.
The three were arrested on January 28, 2026, and held at Akila Police Station before being presented in court.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court ordered that they be remanded in custody as they await a ruling on their bond, scheduled for February 4, 2026.
