Court gives students 100 million gift from sponsor to Government of Kenya

A college student lost the money to the government after receiving more than Sh100 million from her Belgian boyfriend.

Judge Esther Maina of the High Court forfeited the funds to the state on the grounds that they were used in a money-laundering conspiracy.

“After considering the evidence and all the information presented to me. I am confident that the state is entitled to forfeiture of those two accounts. Regarding the funds, there is unmistakable money laundering, she stated.

The Assets Recovery Agency’s application was approved by Maina, who claimed that it was unclear where the money in Felesta Njoroge’s accounts came from.

According to ARA, the Nairobi Technical Training Institute student said that her Belgian boyfriend, Marc De Mesel, gave her the money.

According to court documents, the Belgian sent $229,980 on August 4, 2021, and $231,980 the next day.

Mesel sent the funds twice on August 6 in amounts of $224,980 and $227,980.

On October 18, the agency invited the student to discuss the money, but she disregarded the invitation.

The ARA informed the court during the case’s hearing that after conducting their investigations, they had determined that the student, age 21, had engaged in a sophisticated money-laundering plan intended to conceal and obscure the nature and sources of her finances.

They claimed the money was either the product of criminal activity or a money laundering plan.