Money –The 23-year-old young Kenyan mother whose Belgian boyfriend had gifted her millions has lost the case to the State.
High Court in Nairobi has ruled that the sh 102 million love gift sent to student Felista Nyamathira Njoroge by her billionaire boyfriend abroad is a proceed of money laundering.
Justice Esther Maina, on Thursday 25 May 2023, therefore, allowed the Kenyan government to confiscate the millions currently lying in two Co-operative Bank accounts belonging to Ms Nyamathira.
The two bank accounts written in the name of Felista Nyamathira were frozen when investigating agencies started their exercise last year.
Judge Maina ordered that the funds remain under custody of the State since they are proceeds of criminal dealings between the source Marc De Mesel from Belgium and his Kenyan girlfriend.
Billionaire Marc De Mesel, a Belgian YouTube crypto personality, has not been able to explain to the court how he makes the money.
In a landmark judgement, Justice Maina said the philanthropist had been given the opportunity to explain his side of the story and why he sends huge sums of money to a student but could not show up.
Justice Maina further said, the evidence adduced in court by both the State and the two lovers showed that there was an obvious money laundering activity.
Maina, therefore, saw it fit to grant the Asset Recovery Agency ARA their prayers to declare the funds as proceeds of crime and seize the accounts.
“I have analysed and gone through the evidence tendered by the boyfriend and it did not show the source of the funds that were transferred to the Kenyan girlfriend
“With the lack of proper disclosure of how the money is made and why it had been wired into the country, gives a conclusion that this is a money laundering network,” Judge Maina ruled.
Ms Nyamathira hit the headlines in 2021 when she revealed that DCI detectives had intercepted a gift of money sent to her by a Belgian tycoon.
The young lady then complained of mistreatment at the hands of the State Criminal Investigation Department for withholding her sh102 million sent to her for her personal use.
