In 2008, the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) released a sh7.3 billion oil consignment without the necessary approvals to oil marketing firm Triton. The company collapsed the next few days, it was a big scandal then.
Yagnesh Devani, the mastermind of that scam fled Kenya for Europe, he escaped justice for 11 years, however, yesterday, the Court of Appeal of London has refused to stop his extradition to Kenya to face charges.
Devani is wanted in Kenya to face fraud and corruption charges.
It is reported that, Devani, in his appeal, Devani tried to use a similar claim by controversial ‘miracle babies’ televangelist Gilbert Deya that Kenyan prisons are deathtraps.
Devani tried to dismiss the assurance by the Kenyan government that his rights would not be violated in Kenyan prisons.
But in their ruling dated May 7, 2020, the judges said that Devani the reasons brought forward were not satisfactory.
“In this case, specific assurances had been given by senior office holders in Kenya which were accepted by the Divisional Court. In considering this article 3 challenge a court should begin with the presumption that the Republic of Kenya was acting in good faith,” the judges said.
The scam had many names
In September 2014, Kenya won its case to extradite Devani, but he appealed.
Devani’s deals which were unearthed in 2008, when the country witnessed fuel shortage and numerous complaints by oil marketers and financiers that prompted KPC to order an internal audit of oil stocks in its systems.
The audit revealed stocks amounting to 126.4 million litres were irregularly and illegally released to Triton Petroleum Ltd between November 2007 and November 2008.
Triton was not entitled to the stocks, nor did financiers authorise the release as required under contractual arrangements.
Mr Devani is charged alongside Julius Kilonzo, Collins Otieno, Mahendra Pathak and Benedict Mutua with defrauding KPC.
