The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has placed a flashy 34-year-old roads engineer at the centre of the Sh1.573 billion road construction equipment scandal in Bomet County.
Mr Victor Cheruiyot has come under intense scrutiny following a high-profile raid by the commission last Thursday linked to the case.
During the raid, the commission confiscated 121 official stamps associated with the case. Of these, 100 were found at Mr Cheruiyot’s home, and 21 at his county headquarters office.
The EACC targeted Mr Cheruiyot along with seven other officials in a surprise operation that shocked residents of the South Rift region.
The number of suspects arrested and questioned rose to 18, up from the initial eight.
The EACC is investigating nine companies that were allegedly used by Mr Cheruiyot to siphon Sh1.2 billion from the county government.
Mr Cheruiyot allegedly owns several companies that have been awarded multi-billion shilling tenders by the County Government of Bomet.
The commission also said that three County Executive Committee (CEC) members. Andrew Sigei (Finance), Dr Joseph Kirui (Administration), and Eric Ngetich (Roads) were arrested.
In addition, chief officers Erick Chepkwony (Finance) and Solomon Kimetto (Water and Sanitation) were also seized while Director of Procurement Beatrice Rotich’s house was raided during the EACC operation.
The commission is finalising plans to arraign the officials and their business associates over unexplained wealth that has been unearthed during the ongoing investigations. The EACC is also said to have found a paper trail for suspect deals.
The commission found discrepancies of Sh373 million in the county government’s financial records in the purchase of road construction equipment.
The EACC said it traced Mr Cheruiyot’s case to six years back when he joined the county government as a roads engineer and rapidly rose through the ranks due to his close ties with senior technocrats and politicians.
Living a life of luxury, Mr Cheruiyot reportedly amassed property and a collection of luxury Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), which raised eyebrows.
EACC arrests eight Bomet officials over alleged Sh1.573bn fraud
In its documents, the EACC said he has constructed two mansions—one in Kelonget village, Kapsimotwo location, and another in Kapkatet, Kericho County—using funds whose source is unclear.
He is alleged to have established “a fully-fledged office at his house for making fake documents for non-existent construction works that he uses to facilitate fraudulent payments in collusion with top county officials”
“Also recovered from his house are volumes of procurement and payment documents including ‘approved’ contracts for various companies and bid documents awaiting approval signatures,” the EACC said in a statement.
The agency further stated that the documents include “Local Purchase Orders, unused payment vouchers, procurement requisitions for construction work and requests for payments to various companies, all suspected to be forgeries.
A detective involved in the investigations told Nation yesterday that top Bomet County officials had been implicated in a syndicate in which funds from the devolved unit’s departments were siphoned using companies that had not done any work.
The EACC detective said investigations into Sh1.2 billion fraudulent payments for fake road projects have been completed and the file is undergoing final review approvals before transmission to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
On October 24, the EACC obtained search warrants from the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Milimani, Nairobi, leading to the raid at the homes of the initial eight Bomet suspects, including Mr Cheruiyot.
The court order against Mr Cheruiyot that was seen by Nation allows the commission entry into his homes, offices and business premises wherever they are located in the country.
It gave the commission powers to confiscate documents, sale agreements, transfer undertakings, jewellery, money, safe boxes and electronic gadgets that will aid in the probe.
The EACC was also given powers to use “reasonable force” during the search and inform the court of the seized documents.
“Documents seized during the raid include incriminating material hidden in the houses of the suspects which show a top county official is a beneficiary of the graft proceeds,” the detective said.
In essence, the official is presiding over massive corruption, orchestrated through well-planned networks and schemes” the detective stated.
For Cheruiyot, Villagers describe him as an introvert, rarely engaging in community activities which makes his extravagant lifestyle even more perplexing.
“Many high-end vehicles, including those from the county government, have been moving in and out of the home in the past, but we were not privy to what was going on behind closed doors,” remarked a villager who wished to remain anonymous.
Mr Cheruiyot’s attempt to evade capture has become a talking point after he allegedly escaped during the raid by pretending to need the use of an external toilet, slipping out of sight as EACC officers loaded confiscated documents.
“He slipped out of the compound through an opening and disappeared,” EACC says in its report of the raid.
In the background of this operation lies a larger investigation into the procurement of roads equipment, which has been ongoing for three months. The EACC had previously obtained 26 crucial documents from the county government relating to this inquiry, with more officials now under scrutiny.
The raid occurred simultaneously with a visit from President William Ruto , who inaugurated the Sh4.5 billion AGC Tenwek Hospital Cardio-Thoracic Centre.
The event was seen as a significant embarrassment for Governor Hillary Barchok, who attended the ceremony with a limited entourage, raising questions about his administration's integrity.
The ongoing investigations into Mr Cheruiyot and other county officials have sent shockwaves through the local government, with many senior officers reportedly avoiding their offices for fear of arrest.
EACC’s operations have historically targeted specific individuals, but this situation marks the first major crackdown under Barchok’s leadership, highlighting the pervasive issues of corruption within the county government.
The EACC has reported that Cheruiyot allegedly maintained a fully operational office at his residence for generating fraudulent documents related to non-existent construction projects.
“Also recovered from his house are volumes of various procurement and payment documents including ‘approved’ contracts for various companies, bid documents awaiting approval signatures,” an EACC statement revealed.
Following the arrests, the officials recorded statements with the commission before being released, but the investigations are far from over.
The commission has stated that the officials are accused of “abusing their positions of trust, embezzlement of public funds through collusion, procurement fraud, and payment for non-existent or substandard services.”
