A traffic police officer based in Malindi stands to lose his Sh30 million fortune after failing to explain how he accumulated it.
Chief Inspector Gabriel Mbiti Mulei was found with Sh10.5 million held in his four bank accounts, seven parcels of land valued at Sh19.4 million, five vehicles, and one motorcycle.
Court papers showed Inspector Mbiti earned a net monthly salary of approximately Sh20,000. The parcels of land are in Malindi, Kwale Township and Ndithini/Mananja.
He is said to have accumulated his wealth between June 2008 and February 2011. EACC told the court they received information to the effect that Mulei was soliciting bribes from road users in Malindi while serving as the traffic base commander.
Mombasa High Court Judge Njoki Mwangi ruled on a forfeiture suit filed by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission in 2015, saying the officer’s properties constitute unexplained assets.
“It is my finding that Mulei did not offer any explanation as to why deposits amounting to Sh10,536,199 were made to his various bank accounts, excluding his salary account,” said Justice Mwangi.
Adding: “The properties the subject of this suit, as well as the deposits in his bank accounts, raise questions with respect to their sources. I am satisfied, on the evidence placed before me by EACC, that Mulei has unexplained assets.”
The Judge also noted that the officer’s explanation was weak and unsatisfactory.
“When the burden of proof shifted to him, he made a feeble attempt to respond to the claims by EACC by stating that he had been in active employment for two decades and had been earning a decent salary,” said the judge.
He had also denied owning any land in Kwale or Malindi but admitted to the ownership of the plots in Ndithini/Mananja, which he said were acquired through payment by installments, funds from shooting competitions and loans.
The officer also said he could not trace the records for the purchase of the said parcels of land.
Justice Mwangi ordered the officer to forfeit to the government a sum of Sh10,536,199 within 30 days.
