Ekeza Sacco Founder Bishop David Gakuyo Surrenders Himself to Police over Sh1.5 Billion Scandal
Ekeza Sacco founder and chairman Bishop David Kariuki Ngare alias Gakuyo has surrendered himself to police.
Gakuyo has surrendered himself at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi on Thursday at 2 pm.
Gakuyo appeared alongside six other Ekeza Sacco officials and his lawyer Danstan Omari.
The seven have reportedly been grilled by DCI officers including Head of Serious Crimes Unit Joseph Kariuki for close to an hour before they left.
Gakuyo was being sought by detectives over the loss of Sh1.5 billion from Ekeza Sacco following a directive issued by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on Wednesday.
“One way in which we are going to support co-operative movements is to punish and bring to book those who misuse the Sacco resources. We will go after these people. We are hot on the trail of the Ekeza officials and others," Matiang'i said on Wednesday.
An audit into Ekeza Sacco has established that Bishop Gakuyo and his wife illegally withdrew Sh1.5 billion from the society's coffers and used some of it to fund their expensive lifestyle.
The funds that were apparently transferred to his personal account belonged to more than 50,000 members of the Sacco.
Last year, the Commissioner for Cooperatives Mary Mungai revoked the Sacco’s license following complaints that Ekeza was sharing bank accounts and offices with its sister company, Gakuyo Real Estate.
The Sacco was also accused of denying members access to their savings and reneging on its promise to help them purchase homes.
Bishop Gakuyo had earlier offered to sell some of his properties including Lillies Hotel in Juja, Salama House and Swift Breeze Hardware on Garissa Road, a quarry in Murang’a County as well as 250 acres of land in Machakos and Murang'a Counties.
He claimed the sale would enable him to raise money so he could refund Ekeza members' savings.
The sale was, however, suspended by the court until March 7th, 2019 when an inter-party hearing will take place.
The Commissioner for Cooperatives has filed the case to block Gakuyo from selling the property.