Adede wants ‘fake’ Sh20bn in court

A man at the centre of a Barclays Bank #ticker:BBK safe box in which police said they found Sh20 billion in fake cash now says the money is genuine and wants it produced in court.

Mr Erick Otieno Adede, a lawyer and a consultant, wants the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) compelled to present the contents of the safe box in court, saying the $20 million he stored in the box was authentic.

As the account holder of the safe box since November 25, 2017, Mr Adede alleges the DCI is illegally holding sums of monies that do not form part of charges he is facing.

“It is just and equitable that the applicant be heard on a priority basis so that his grievances be remedied without delay,” said his lawyer Martin Oloo.

He accused DCI of colluding with Barclays Bank to carry out the raid that seized his dollars without a court order.

Mr Adede was arrested on March 19, alongside traders Mohamed Ejaz alias Shah, Mary Wanjiru Mwangi alias Elizabeth Muthoni and Irene Wairimu Kimani.

They all faced a joint charge of conspiring to defraud businessman Muriithi Materi Mbuthia of Sh20 million at the bank’s Queensway branch, while pretending to be investors.

Mr Adede pleaded not guilty to allegations that police found $20,067,900 as fake money and 41.373 kilogrammes of brass at the bank.

He was freed on a Sh1 million cash bail and his co-accused on a cash bail of Sh300, 000 each.

The criminal case is set to begin on May 9.