Missing: Billionaire Behind Sh17bn Oil Import Vanishes Without a Trace
Concern has been expressed by an attorney regarding the purported whereabouts of his client, a billionaire domestic importer and exporter of goods.
Anne Njeri Njoroge, according to attorney Cliff Ombeta, was allegedly summoned to the DCI headquarters in Nairobi on Thursday, as of Saturday.
However, he reported that she has not communicated with him since then.
“She is now missing for two days. She is unreachable and untraceable,” Ombeta told journalists in Mombasa.
Officers investigating the case denied knowledge of her disappearance or the summons, as reported by Ombeta.
The attorney linked Njeri’s disappearance to the Sh17 billion in diesel oil that her company, Ann’s Import and Export Enterprises Ltd., imported into the country from Turkey via Saudi Arabia.
Ombeta stated that she collaborated with an Israeli national on this endeavor and that her financiers have a favorable opinion of her credit history.
“This was to be sold to any party that was willing to buy from her,” Ombeta said in Mombasa.
Two individuals, according to him, acquired ownership of the 100,000 metric tonnes of oil by taking advantage of Njeri’s lack of an oil importation license.
Ombeta asserted, “The difficulty has been that while she was attempting to do so, some individuals attempted to steal the oil from her.”
As per the attorney, the incident commenced on November 4, when the oil was in the open waters and Njeri was searching for a vendor for it before it arrived in Kenya.
According to him, the authorities informed Njeri that the oil-carrying vessel had arrived at the port of Mombasa.
Njeri approached the Mombasa Port police station to report the incident and inquire as to who had permitted the ship to be moored at the port without her permission.
Transactions on board the vessel were temporarily halted.
She filed a petition with the Mombasa High Court on November 8 in which she sued several companies and requested that the ship be prohibited from unloading the oil.
According to Ombeta, her client was issued a High Court order in Mombasa that prohibits the ship from departing the port and the diesel from being unloaded until the ownership dispute is adjudicated.
Njeri requests that certain corporations transfer Sh17 billion to an interest-bearing account while the matter is adjudicated and a verdict is reached, as stated in her prayers.
However, in response, one of the companies, represented by its CEO, asserted that petroleum importation into the country is strictly prohibited without the proper authorization.
The CEO of the organization asserted that on November 9, a State agency informed them that Njeri lacks a license to import petroleum.
The CEO of the organization contended that the government established a framework for the transit and sale of refined petroleum products in Kenya and other transit markets via a government-to-government arrangement using legal notice number three of 2023.
The subject will be deliberated upon in Mombasa on Tuesday.
David Chumo, Ann’s other attorney, was present at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi when she recorded her statement, according to Ombeta.
He leveled allegations against unidentified Kenyans, including high-ranking government officials, alleging that they attempted to pilfer the oil from his client after deceiving her into believing they could assist in transporting the oil into Kenya.
Ombeta stated that his client is well-versed in the prerequisites for importing oil, particularly on a government-to-government level, due to her more than three decades of experience in the industry.
“We have seen people disappear in Kenya before. We fear this could be headed that way and we do not want that to happen to my client,” he said.
Missing: Billionaire Behind Sh17bn Oil Import Vanishes Without a Trace
