Eight Kuscco staff on police radar over leaked documents
Business
By
Fred Kagonye
| Aug 15, 2025
Eight accountants from the Kenya Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (Kussco) on Thursday recorded statements with the police at Capitol Hill Police Station amid a probe on fraud at the institution.
According to a detective close to the probe, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had summoned 10 Kussco accountants, but only eight showed up. The investigator said the other two were on leave and off duty, respectively.
“They are being investigated over the leak of confidential documents that were posted on social media,” said the officer.
The probe relates to theft, destruction and concealment of documents linked to the loss of billions in deposits as part of ongoing efforts by the current Kuscco board and management to recover lost funds.
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Lawyer Cecil Miller, acting on behalf of Kuscco board, had submitted a formal protest letter to the DCI alleging that some Kuscco employees linked to the former management were destroying and tampering with documents in an effort to conceal the financial misappropriation.
The move to summon the accountants comes nine months after Co-operatives and MSMEs Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya received an audit report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) detailing level of financial mismanagement at Kussco.
He called on the Inspector-General of Police, Douglas Kanja, to have the matter probed in-depth and those found culpable to be prosecuted.
The loss of Sh12.5 billion has left the Saccos umbrella body, which was founded in 1973, insolvent, placing the savings of 247 Saccos at stake.
The 208-page PwC report implicated over 23 top managers at Kussco, placing eight executives, including former Managing Director George Ototo, ex-Finance Manager George Owino, and ex-Chairman George Magutu, on the spotlight.
Oparanya, after receiving the audit report, admitted that the money may never be recovered, proposing that Saccos make provisions in their books to shoulder the losses.
“We are unlikely to recover this money, and if a recovery process is undertaken, it may take too long,” he said. The report showed how Kuscco’s management falsified the audit and overstated profits to the tune of Sh797.9 million.
Irregular procurement amounted to Sh503 million, and the mismanagement of the Central Finance Fund was to the tune of Sh1.3 billion.
Excessive and irregular payments of commissions to Kussco Mutual amounted to over Sh2.7 billion, while non-performing loans (NPLs) stood at Sh3.7 billion out of a Sh9 billion portfolio.
Kussco is battling one of its former managers in court, seeking to recover Sh1.6 billion that could not be accounted for.
Through lawyer Miller, Kussco alleged that its former housing Chief Executive Julius Odera, is solely to blame for the money lost in the unit.
It alleged that Odera made payments amounting to at least Sh1.2 billion without evidence of a procurement process.