Tobias Sylvester
A Dubai-bound Nigerian man, Muazu Bala. has forfeited over N454million (KSh100 million) which he was arrested with at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenya.
According to KenyaReport, a High Court in Kenya had on Wednesday ordered that the money which was confiscated from Muazu Bala to be deposited at Central Bank of Kenya.
It was gathered that Bala, who was headed for Dubai, was arrested at the Kenyan airport last Friday with the cash, with the Assets and Recovery Agency (ARA), suspecting it could be proceeds of crime or money laundering.
ARA had on Tuesday filed a case in court seeking orders to freeze the money seized from Bala last Friday, which is in three denominations; US dollars (880,000), Euros (60,000) and Naira (63,000).
“To effectively investigate the matter, DCI Transnational Organized Crime Detectives are working with the ARA. The seized cash is believed to be from International Criminal Cartels,” says the DCI.
“His failure to declare that he was carrying such a huge amount or documents to support the legitimacy of the cash, raises suspicion of money laundering,” says ARA.
In court documents, Bala said the cash was for conducting business in Dubai. But he did not have any supporting documents on the nature of the said business, or authorisation to move large amounts of cash.
At most international airports, one must declare currency of over $10,000 (about Ksh1 million). While having large amounts of cash is technically not illegal, failure to declare it can lead to forfeiture.
kanyiDaily had also reported how the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) intercepted the sum of $8.6 million stashed inside a bus at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos State.
