Lawyer Esther Bitutu Kadiki, who is accused of stealing more than Sh1.5 billion from Equity Bank, has been arraigned and detained by the Milimani Law Courts.
The court allowed investigators more time to complete investigations into the alleged banking fraud.
Equity Bank reports Sh1.5 billion fraud
Equity Bank reported the alleged fraud to the Banking Fraud Investigation Unit after discovering the loss of clients’ funds.
The bank reported the matter on July 11, 2024.
According to investigators, the alleged fraud involved multiple fraudulent debits made between May 1, 2024, and July 31, 2024.
Police say the transactions amounted to Sh1,499,465,831.29.
The funds allegedly came from the bank’s internal Salaries Remittance General Ledger and moved to several non-Equity Bank accounts.
Investigators accuse suspects of hiding money trail
According to the investigation report, the suspects allegedly created false narrations in the bank’s systems.
The narrations allegedly concealed the source, location, movement and nature of the funds.
Investigators say the money later moved through several transactions.
The transactions allegedly involved bulk withdrawals, transfers to other bank accounts and cryptocurrency dealings.
Sh38 million linked to lawyer’s accounts
Banking Fraud Investigation officers told the court that Sh38,404,574 from the stolen funds entered accounts linked to Bitutu.
The money was allegedly transferred to an NCBA Bank account belonging to Inforide Point Limited.
Bitutu co-owns the company with her husband.
Investigators also linked part of the funds to an account belonging to Kadiki & Advocates at the National Bank of Kenya.
Police seek more time for investigations
Investigators asked the court to detain Bitutu for 21 days to allow them to complete their work.
They told the court that the case involves complex financial transactions.
Police said they needed more time to trace other individuals who may have worked with Bitutu.
Bitutu is being investigated for alleged offences including money laundering, organised criminal activity, computer fraud, stealing and handling stolen property.
Appearing before Magistrate Lucas Onyina, the lawyer remained in custody as investigations continued.
