The case exposes weaknesses in Kenya's investigation and prosecution of illicit financial flows, especially in the real estate sector.

In February 2022, the United States (US) government uncovered money laundering syndicates involved in stealing Covid-19 relief funds from the US and transferring them to Kenya.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation found that between February 2020 and February 2022, $250-million was illegally transferred through banks, real estate agencies and other financial institutions in Kenya. The money was used to buy beach plots, luxury vehicles and holiday homes, among other things.

The US investigative agencies named 47 suspects in the theft of Covid-19 relief funds from the state of Minnesota. The paper trail indicated that the money was obtained from federally-funded US child nutrition programmes and then illegally transferred to Turkey, Kenya and Dubai. When the suspects were caught, they still had over $114-million stashed in various accounts.

The syndicate facilitating the theft and transfer of money to Kenya included US citizens working in the humanitarian sector in collusion with US citizens with kinship links to Kenya. Fake companies were created in the US to receive the child nutrition programme funds, which were then transferred to individual accounts in Kenya.

The main suspect, Aimee Bock, used her organisation, Feeding...