The High Court of Kenya has ordered a senior National Treasury official to return over Ksh67 million in irregular payments she received under the guise of fake allowances.
Faith Jematia Kiptis, an officer at the Ministry of Treasury and Planning, was found guilty of receiving illegal payments and other non-existent allowances between January 2020 and June 2022.
In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, July 15, Justice Musyoki of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division found that Kiptis pocketed millions through illegal payments.
The payments were labelled as taskforce, facilitation, entertainment, and extraneous allowances.
Also Read: Two Treasury Employees to Repay Ksh39 Million They Received as Allowances
How the Treasury Employee Received the Millions
According to the EACC, none of these payments had been approved by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), making them fraudulent.
Therefore, Justice Musyoki of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division ruled that Kiptis must refund Ksh67,664,975 to the government.
Additionally, the court ordered the forfeiture of funds in her Equity Bank account (Ksh2.4 million) and her KCB account (Ksh6.3 million).
Kiptis will also be required to pay interest on the full amount until it is fully recovered, along with all legal costs incurred during the proceedings.
EACC investigations revealed that Kiptis benefited from overlapping and unjustified allowances, some exceeding her job group’s limits, and others that were entirely unsupported by any public service policies.
The court noted that SRC’s advisory role on public sector pay is legally binding, and condemned the National Treasury for approving payments without proper authorization.
Also Read: EACC Recovers Grabbed Land Parcels Worth Sh320M in 2 Counties
How Kiptis Spent the Money
Earlier, the commission’s investigations indicated that she may have acquired prime properties using the suspected proceeds of corruption.
The properties include an apartment in Syokimau, a plot roughly 1/8 acre in size located in Shanzu, Mombasa, and a plot roughly an eighth acre in Kilifi.
“An analysis of the respondent’s transactions and information received by the applicant further raises reasonable suspicion that said properties may have been acquired in the period when she is reasonably suspected to have engaged in corrupt conduct, from public funds suspected to have been corruptly acquired,” read a statement by the EACC.
In November 2022, Judge Esther Maina of the High Court’s Anti-Corruption Division granted the preservation orders requested by the EACC, preventing Jematia, her agents, servants, or any other individuals from transferring, disposing of, or otherwise dealing with the aforementioned properties while investigations are ongoing.
This case is part of a wider EACC crackdown on fraudulent payments within the Treasury. So far, the anti-graft agency says it has recovered over Ksh174 million from officials implicated in similar schemes.
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