Former Insurance Company East Africa (ICEA) investment manager Lincoln Kivuti Njeru has been found guilty of stealing Ksh62.7 million from the company through collapsed Nyaga Stockbrokers.
He has be sentenced for nine years in jail
Milimani Law Courts chief magistrate Francis Andayi found that Mr Njeru received the amount through fraudulent sale of ICEA share investments.
The amount was then channelled to his personal bank account, from the company’s account.
Njeru then lied that the amount was lost through erosion of share value of the company at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), an allegation that was found to be false.
“From the totality of evidence presented by the prosecution the losses experienced by ICEA were correctly linked to the accused person and not as investment losses as he purported,” Mr Andayi said in his judgement.
The court found that the amount was first deposited into the ICEA account, before it was transferred to Njeru’s accounts between January 17, 2003 and September 20, 2005.
During court proceedings, Njeru was unable to explain the source of millions in his accounts.
Through his lawyer Stanley Kang’ahi, Mr Njeru pleaded with the court to give him a non-custodial sentence, since he is the sole bread-winner of his family and has been out of employment for 12 years.
At least Ksh10 million of the lost amount was recovered.
