An associate of businessman Mukuria Ngamau, who was jailed this week over the Youth Fund scandal, died before the dirty payments were wired- the first in five mysterious deaths that would rock the graft trial.
Mr Ngamau was fined Sh900 million and faces 27 years in jail should he fail to pay the fine. While appearing before the House Public Investment Committee (PIC) in 2016, Mr Ngamau told the lawmakers that Mr Collin Reeves, who was purportedly the lead consultant for the project the court ruled was used to siphon Sh180 million, died on April 1, 2015. Mr Reeves died before he could receive his cut of Sh115 million.
Mr Ngamau told MPs then that “he was still trying to trace the deceased’s next of kin to transfer Sh115 million owed to him.”
But the businessman landed in trouble with the MPs because he had initially claimed that he was in contact with Mr Reeves who resided in Michigan, USA.
In his written submission to the committee dated March 11, 2016, he would later change his story to claim Mr Reeves had died. At some point, the Committee had expressed doubts about the identity of Reeves.
“It is doubtful that the said Mr Donnie Collins Reeves does indeed exist and that he received approximately Sh115 million as alleged by Mr Ngamau. The witness failed to provide Mr Reeve’s physical address or phone contacts, Skype extracts and evidence of payment to Mr. Reeves,” the PIC report reads.
“Further, the curriculum vitae of one Donnie Collins Reeves was found to be unclear, vague and ambiguous with inconsistent information as evidenced,” it adds.
However, Ms Lucy Kiruthu, who testified on behalf of the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, submitted the position of the ministry in a report dated April 12, 2016, on Mr Reeves’ identity.
She submitted that Mr Reeves was born in February 1954 and died on April 1, 2015 aged 61.
He could have been having a son by the same names who could have been in his 30s at the time, said Ms Kiruthu.
“The deceased was an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) specialist at Enterprise Electronics Corporations (since 1989) and a Data Processing Manager at Enterprise Electronics Corporation which is in the television broadcasting industry,” she disclosed.
Mukuria Ngamau explains how he got Sh180m from the Youth Fund
The PIC investigation exposed the extent of the scam and would lead to the prosecution of top officials of the state corporation the MPs accused of orchestrating the theft of public funds.
These were the chief executive officer Catherine Namuye and board chairman Bruce Odhiambo. The two would also die in puzzling circumstances in the course of the graft trial which started in August 2016.
Other mysterious deaths include that of a lady lawyer who was found dead in her house in Kileleshwa, Nairobi. One of the defence counsels in the graft case, she died in October 2017.
The other mysterious death is that of Mr Simon Mwangi Gathika, a driver who worked at the parastatal. He drowned in a pool as investigations into the scandal gathered pace.
The 33-year-old driver was found dead in a swimming pool in Mombasa on October 19, 2015. He was participating in a swimming competition. The man mostly chauffeured Ms Namuye.
In October 2017, Ms Namuye also collapsed and died at her home in Kileleshwa, Nairobi. Police and medics did not report any physical injuries on her body.
A post mortem examination revealed the cause of death was a heart attack. Namuye’s death and that of the lady lawyer were about two weeks apart. They both lived in Kileleshwa.
Slightly over a year later, in January 2019, Mr Odhiambo also died while undergoing treatment at the Nairobi Hospital.
He also suffered a heart attack. He died six months after he had travelled to India for treatment for the heart-related condition.
Youth Fund was killed by corruption
“As a result of the actions of the suspended Ag. CEO, Catherine Namuye and Bruce Odhiambo, former Board Chairman, the Fund lost a total of Sh180,364,789 through a well-orchestrated and dubious non-existent consultancy service scheme,” the PIC report stated.
Mr Ngamau, now a convict, had met Ms Namuye sometime in early May 2014 at an event of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.
She informed him that the corporation wanted someone to help them come up with an Information Communication Technology (ICT) strategy.
She also told him the board wanted an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that would enable them to transform the parastatal into a modern institution.
After the meeting, Mr Ngamau told PIC, he contacted an ICT and ERP specialist from USA, Mr Reeves who would become the lead consultant on the project. He agreed to submit a proposal for the work.
On May 20, 2014, Mr Ngamau held a meeting with Ms Namuye and Mr Reeves via Skype to understand the requirements of the parastatal.
His company, Quorandum Ltd, was given the contract based on forged contract documents for provision of ICT consultancy services for ERP.
The PIC found the contract was a fraudulent scheme to loot Sh180 million as no services were rendered.
The crafters were Mr Ngamau, Ms Namuye and Mr Odhiambo, the report says. The money was paid to Quorandum Ltd through its accounts held at Chase bank.
The payments were made after Ms Namuye had made herself the sole signatory of the Fund’s bank account.
PIC reviewed Quorandum Ltd bank statements from Chase Bank and Standard Chartered Bank Ltd and found no evidence of payment of Sh115 million to Mr Reeves as was alleged by Mr Ngamau.
However, in his second written submission, Mr Ngamau confirmed that he did not make the payment to Mr Reeves, as the purported consultant had died.
In court, Mr Ngamau admitted that his company received the money.
“Quorandum confirmed the payments were made. The court finds the payment was an unusual scheme to pay the company,” said Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti.
Mr Ngamau used the proceeds of the crime to purchase a house in Lavington, Nairobi.
The Assets Recovery Agency later in 2018 obtained an order for seizure of the property registered as duplex apartment number C16 at Duchess Park Apartments located along Hatheru Road, Lavington, Nairobi.
An analysis of the various statements of bank accounts held by Quorandum Limited at Chase Bank (K) Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank(K) Ltd showed that the Sh180 million was also used for various suspicious transactions.
In particular, some Sh91.6 million that was transferred to Quorandum Limited account at Standard Chartered Bank was wired to various third parties including a Mr Odhiambo.
