The Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji on Monday revealed that Ksh34.7 Million withdrawn from a local bank was wired to Syria and Jilib in Somalia – the headquarters of terrorist group Al-Shabaab.
Appearing before the National Assembly Justice and Legal Affairs committee, Haji revealed that part of suspicious bank transfers financed the Riverside attack that occurred in January.
“This money was going to Jilib, the headquarters of Al-Shabaab. We are not penalising this bank but protecting it by charging the manager. There are certain issues that cannot be said here,” he told the committee.
The DPP was responding to a question Baringo North MP William Cheptumo, who sought to know why DTB’s Eastleigh branch manager Sophia Njoki Mbogo had been charged with aiding terrorism.
“How would a bank manager know if a person withdrawing money is a terrorist? Why have you charged the manager?” Cheptumo, the chair of the committee asked.
Senior Public Prosecutor Dorcas Oduor who accompanied DPP Haji responded, “We have evidence showing that some of this money was going to Syria and Somalia. What would you be investing in Somalia using clean cash?”
“Looking at what happened in Dusit D2, a customer who was withdrawing Ksh400,000 per month suddenly takes Sh5 million in cash and loaded in a sack. As a manager, you ought to have raised concern and reported to the Financial Reporting Centre,” she explained.
Oduor added that it was the responsibility of banks and other financial institutions to report suspicious dealings.
“Even if an individual deposits a shilling after every second. We are looking at the culpability of the bank.
“When one is circumventing the rules, you do not know what he or she is aiding. Criminals will go to banks that have weak systems, weak branches, weak tellers and weak guards,” she added.
