Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti on Thursday ordered former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero to be released on a cash bail of Sh2 million.
Kidero was arrested alongside Maurice Okere who was also given a Sh 3 million bond with a surety of the same amount.
The two will remain at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) police cell until they raise the bail.
Kidero was arrested in connection with alleged abuse of office, money laundering, bribery, conflict of interest and failure to protect public property.
The former governor and seven others are accused of facilitating the loss of Sh213,327,300 between January 2014, and January 2016.
Lawyer Tom Ojienda pleaded with Chief Magistrate Douglas Ogoti, asking him not to be “too strict” as the two are “law-abiding citizens”.
“There is no reason why they would not avail themselves for trial. None of the accused persons has [cases of] past criminal conduct and they cannot interfere with witnesses,” he said.
Defending the two, Ojienda said the two no longer work for the county and so they do not have access to documents and employees.
The judge ordered the others accused in the case, former officers Lilian Ndegwa (county secretary), Jimmy Kiamba (Finance chief officer), Stephen Osiro (head of county Treasury), Luke Gatimu (acting Finance chief officer) and Gregory Mwakanongo (Finance executive) to present themselves to the EACC by Friday at 10.00 am.