Abducted or absconded? Manager in Sh1.5b Equity Bank heist goes missing

 

The mystery surrounding Equity Bank Manager David Machiri Kimani’s whereabouts continues to deepen after he failed to appear before the court yesterday concerning Sh1.5 billion allegedly siphoned from the lender.

In a new twist to the saga, his lawyer, Ndegwa Njiru, told Milimani Court Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo that he expected the police to produce Machiri in court yesterday since they had allegedly abducted him at his home in Thogoto.

Meanwhile, investigators claimed that the money lost included Equity members’ savings and deposits, and salaries.

On the other hand, the Director of Public Prosecution Renson Ingonga sought to have arrest warrants against the manager, arguing that he had been released by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on a Sh500,000 bond but deliberately absconded summons to appear.

According to the DPP, the man was supposed to report to the DCI Kiambu Road headquarters on Tuesdays and Thursdays but was allegedly missing.

Ndegwa had his own story on what transpired.

While asking the court to order the DPP to produce Machiri either dead or alive, he said that the DCI had sought the authority of the Milimani Court to search and hold Machiri. They were denied orders to hold him. According to him, hooded men in combat clothing and civilian clothing who had guns raided Machiri’s house on the night of August 12, 2024, and left with him.

At the same time, he said they further went to his father David Machiri’s rural home in Murang’a and abducted the patriarch. He argued that Machiri’s father returned the following day. The court heard that the persons who took Machiri were police officers.

He pointed an accusing finger at the police, arguing that they defied a court order by abducting both the father and his son.

Ndegwa alleged that the officers were holding his client incommunicado, adding that the family was fearing for his life.

Initially, the police had asked the court to allow them to hold Machiri for 21 days in Kileleshwa Police Station to conclude investigations on the alleged theft of Sh1.5 billion from the lender.

In the application, investigators claimed they were undertaking a probe into alleged money laundering offences and stealing by servants.

The court heard that the incident had allegedly been reported by Equity’s security department head Kevin Mwangi on July 11, 2024. The officers alleged that Machiri’s credentials were used to process the money.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that most of the accounts that were debited with these funds were newly opened and when funds were credited they were further transferred to other different accounts and later withdrawn to evade the suspicious of being flagged or put under lien,” claimed Boniface Mwangi, an officer attached to Banking Fraud Investigations Unit (BIFU).

He stated that the police wanted to trace everyone who benefitted from the heist.

Mwangi alleged that a preliminary intelligent investigation revealed that the scheme was hatched at Britam towers with more than one unit involved.

He stated that there were new companies that were registered which were when the money was allegedly wired.

According to Mwangi, the lost money included members' savings, salaries and deposits. He alleged that the police were also interested in Machiri’s father, adding that they were in the process of seeking orders to search his home.

Machiri’s wife said that she was in church when the bank manager was abducted. She said that she tried to contact him but was unreachable.