By The Weekly Vision Team
The lawyer told the court that after Kimani’s arrest, police also abducted his father, drove him to Kenol town in Murang’a county, and blindfolded him before taking him to another unknown place. After the abduction, the old man’s wife made a report of a missing person at Kikuyu Police Station via OB No. 052/8/2024, yet nothing was done
The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a manager at Equity Bank who is alleged to have stolen over Sh1.6 billion from the bank deepened yesterday after he failed to appear in court for the mention of the case. David Machiri Kimani was arrested on August 4, 2024, and brought to court under a miscellaneous application where police Inspector Boniface Mwangi, who is attached to the Banking Fraud Unit, pleaded with the court to be granted 21 days to hold him pending the conclusion of investigations into the alleged bank heist.
The court, however, rejected the request and proceeded to release the suspect on a Sh500,000 bond on condition that he surrender his travel documents to the court. He was further required to report twice a week to the DCI officer investigating the matter.
He was expected to appear in court yesterday for the mention of the case and for the court to confirm compliance with its orders, but he was nowhere to be seen, with his lawyers Ndegwa Njiru and Alex Gakuru instead appearing to represent him. Njiru urged the Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo to issue an order requiring the police to produce Kimani in court, whether dead or alive, insisting that he had been abducted.
“Your honour, my client is not present in court today as scheduled since he was abducted by police officers, despite this honourable court releasing him on bond. Njiru urged the court to issue orders bringing the suspect’s body before it.
The lawyer told the court that after Kimani’s arrest, police also abducted his father, drove him to Kenol town in Murang’a county, and blindfolded him before taking him to another unknown place. After the abduction, the old man’s wife made a report of a missing person at Kikuyu Police Station via OB No. 052/8/2024, yet nothing was done.
According to the lawyer, the old man was released on August 6, 2024, after two days of torture where he narrated the ordeal, he underwent after his abduction. “Your honour, the police abducted the father of the suspect and held him incommunicado, where he was subjected to torture and intimidation to give the information he doesn’t know,” the lawyer told the court.
Njiru told the court how the old man was tortured and traumatised by police officers with his hands from behind. According to Njiru, the police placed a tin over the old man’s head and shot at it, just to intimidate him. He urged the court to summon the Inspector General of Police to appear before the court and explain the whereabouts of the suspect since he has been denied his right to access by his lawyers and his family.
“Your honour, I beseech this court to summon the Inspector General of Police to appear before you and explain why they have abducted the suspect, knowing that he was supposed to appear in court today. You released the suspect on bond, and the police contempt the orders of this court,” Njiru pleaded. However, the investigating officer, Boniface Mwangi, told the court that since the release of the suspect on bond, he had only appeared before him on two occasions before disappearing.
He further stated that the suspect had absconded when he was required to be in court for the mention of the case. Mwangi disputed the claims by the defence that the suspect is being held by police officers, charging that they had not produced any evidence to probe the abduction claims. “You honour the claims by the defence that the suspect is being held by police are just mere allegations since no proof has been produced before this court to support the same. No OB number has been produced before this court supporting abduction of the father,” he submitted.
Mwangi, on his part, asked the court to issue a warrant of arrest for the suspect since he had absconded. Kimani is being investigated for the offences of money laundering and stealing contrary to the law. He is accused of fraudulently debiting Sh1,545,887140.49, leading to economic sabotage to Equity Bank of Kenya Limited. The court will give directions today.
