Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter risk losing his seat if he is found guilty of attempted theft at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) through fraud.
Keter was arrested on Friday at CBK headquarters alongside Arthur Sakwa and Madat Chatur after reportedly trying to issue fake Treasury Bills worth Sh633 million.
Sakwa and Chatir are c-directors at Desai industries.
The T-Bills they had are certificates issued against cash they allegedly lent to State in 1990.
The three were arrested by Banking Fraud Investigation Unit detectives as they tried to meet CBK Governor Dr. Patrick Njoroge in the process to redeem the bills they allegedly bought more than two decades ago.
CBK Director of Communications Wallace Kantai said the trio “[has] been arrested for presenting forged Treasury Bills purportedly issued by the CBK in 1990.”
Further, said Kantai, physical receipts until 1997 when investors were given digital certificates that were stored in centralised computer depositories.
There was no requirement for any investor to return their T-Bill certificates.
Usually, T-Bills mature within a year from the date of issue. Back in the 90’s government used this model to borrow as it locked international lenders away.
In July last year, CBK received a letter from Desai Industries with a request to liquidate Treasury Bills valued at Sh633 million.
In its response on August 4, CBK said the bills were not outstanding and unpaid as earlier stated by Desai.
An investigation then started at the time after they realized that the documents could have been forged.
If found guilty, convicted this will expressly lock out Keter from harbouring further political ambitions.
However, Keter in his defense says that he has been set up. “I just came to assist you then you put me in your mess. Then why is the media here? This is a set up,” averred Keter as quoted by the Star.
Keter is not new to controversy. In 2015, he was captured on camera at the Gilgil weighbridge demanding to have a truck belonging to then nominated MP Sunjeev Birdi released by the police.
The truck had been impounded for breaching traffic rules. They were later charged.