Belgian who sent Sh260m to three girls joins fraud case – Business Daily
The High Court has allowed a Belgian suspected of money laundering after sending over Sh260 million to three Kenyan women to join the case, as he fights plans to forfeit the cash to the government.
March De Mesel was allowed to join the case filed against 21-year-old student Felesta Nyamaritha, so that he can demonstrate that he is not part of an international money laundering syndicate and was using the women to launder suspicious money.
De Mesel says in his court papers that he is a crypto investor and philanthropist.
Justice Esther Maina said the Belgian has met the threshold to be allowed to join the matter.
The court has already frozen more than 260 million wired to the three Kenyan women by Mr De Mesel.
The money was wired on different dates to Tebby Wambuku Kago (Sh102) million, Ms Nyamathira (Sh108 million) and Jane Wangui Kago (Sh49 million) by Marc De Messel between August and November last year.
The man says in court documents that he is an honest and responsible investor who has never been involved in any criminal activity. He sought to join the case saying he voluntarily disbursed the money to his lovers.
He revealed that he sent Ms Nyamathira- whom he described as his long-time Kenyan girlfriend, a student at the Nairobi Technical Training Institute (NTTI), the money a few months after it was confirmed she was pregnant with his baby.
De Mesel said there is no rule or regulation stopping or prohibiting an individual from receiving a gift.
He further revealed that his source of income is from capital appreciation by investing in different assets, such as stocks, bonds and precious metals. “I have invested, for example, in Tesla, an American automotive and clean energy firm in the past few years,” he said in court papers.
The investor said he grew up in Belgium, the northern Dutch part called Flanders and got into investments in 2008 pumping money in cryptocurrencies and stocks.
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