The anti-corruption court in Nairobi has fined a businessman Sh720.9 million or a jail term of 27 years over the 2015 Youth Development Fund scandal.
In his ruling, Chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti said that the prosecution had proved that the director of Quorandum Limited, Mukuria Ngamau, was improperly paid Sh180.4 million from the Youth Development Fund.
Ngamau was charged with five counts of conspiracy to commit an economic crime, unlawful acquisition of public property and forgery of documents.
The court heard that between November 17, 2014 and May 4, 2015, Ngamau conspired with his company to receive a payment of Sh180.4 million from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund for services that were not rendered.
The prosecution presented 31 witnesses to testify against Ngamau.
He was charged alongside his wife Doreen Waithera who was later acquitted from the case after entering into a plea bargaining with the State.
The business man requested for a non-custodial sentence which was dismissed by magistrate Ogoti who said that the sentence was dictated by the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes.
It was established that two multi-million shilling contracts were awarded to Ngamau’s company through single sourcing against public procurement regulations during an inquiry by the Parliamentary Investments Committee (PIC)
The accused told the committee that he indeed executed the disputed payment.
Quorandam Limited was to provide consultancy services for an ICT strategy design within a period of seven days at a cost of Ksh65.9 Million in the first contract.
In the second contract, the firm was to provide consultancy services on specifications of the software to be used in managing operations of the agency at a cost of Ksh114.9 Million.
According to detectives, Ngamau made several withdrawals from the funds and transferred the money to private accounts of his relatives including his spouse Doreen Waithera Ng’ang’a and his mother Tabitha Wanjiku Ngamau.
Most of stolen money was used to buy luxury homes, pay debts and also to bribe powerful individuals, law firms and companies.
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