Corrupt traffic officer Jamal Bare Mohammed has agreed to give up Ksh26 million after striking a deal with Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
44-year-old Bare became a multimillionaire as a result of collecting bribes from matatu operators plying the Garissa-Thika highway.
Bare served as a traffic officer on the route for six years before he was busted in EACC dragnet in 2017.
The proverbial 40 days of a thief finally reached for Bare after concerned citizens raised alarm and EACC set a trap for him.
EACC tracked the corrupt traffic officer and recorded him receiving bribes after members of the public made a complaint.
In their presentation in court, EACC said that they established that Bare had cumulative assets, cash and land valued at Ksh47 million. He had banked Ksh26 million, which was frozen through a court order.
In a deal with EACC, the disgraced traffic officer agreed to surrender the Ksh26 million in a bid to settle a case that has been pending in court since 2017.
“The sum of Sh26,193,071 held in Equity Bank account number (withheld) in the name of Jamal Bare Mohamed be and is hereby forfeited to the government,” the agreement adopted by Justice James Wakiaga stated.
The EACC said Bare started negotiating with the anti-graft body in 2020 and made a proposal for a settlement. Article 252(1)(b) of the Constitution allows the EACC to negotiate, ask for conciliation or mediation.
The anti-graft agency said it rejected Bare’s initial proposals because the figure he was seeking to surrender was considered small and that his explanation how he made the money was not satisfactory.
Bare had maintained that part of the wealth was inheritance from his late father and that he was trading in livestock.
However EACC established that the said inheritance and trading in livestock couldn’t earn Bare the millions he had in bank and in assets, which left the source of the rest of the property and money unexplained.
EACC forensic investigator Paul Mugwe told the court that Bare was given an opportunity to explain how he made his millions after finding a disparity between his assets and his known legitimate sources of income.
Evidence produced in court showed that the 44-year-old officer used to make deposits in tranches of between Ksh200,000 and Ksh500,000 every week.
In the six-year period, the court heard that Bare’s gross salary was between Ksh33,050 and Ksh38,630 per month, totaling to Ksh1.8 million.
The anti-graft body also targeted a parcel of land in Thika, which Bare purchased at Ksh3 million and a motor vehicle. However the disgraced traffic officer will keep the assets after the deal with EACC.
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