Senior Sports Officials Caught Red-Handed: How They Looted Sh3.8 Billion and Stashed Cash in Government Securities

Anti-corruption detectives unearth massive fraud scheme spanning five years as officials lived large on taxpayer money 

In a spectacular dawn operation that reads like a Hollywood heist movie, anti-corruption detectives swooped on the homes and offices of senior government officials on Tuesday, uncovering a breathtaking Sh3.8 billion fraud scheme that has left Kenyans reeling in disbelief.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission operatives stormed residences across five counties, catching the suspects in what investigators describe as one of the most audacious looting sprees ever perpetrated against the State Department for Sports.

What they found painted a portrait of unbridled greed: cash stuffed in homes, investments worth hundreds of millions in government securities, a fleet of luxury vehicles, and property sprawling across prime locations.

At the heart of the scandal sits Caroline Muthoni Kariuki, a Senior Assistant Commissioner of Sports who allegedly masterminded the elaborate scheme alongside Otis Mutwiri Nturibi, a Deputy Accountant General stationed at the Ministry of ASALs and Regional Development.

The pair, investigators say, turned their offices into personal ATM machines, working in cahoots with private businesspeople to drain public coffers between 2020 and 2026.

The scale of their alleged theft is staggering.

EACC detectives descended on properties in Nairobi’s leafy suburbs, the scenic slopes of Nanyuki, the highlands of Nyeri, the sprawling estates of Kiambu, and the dusty plains of Machakos.

What they discovered left even hardened investigators shaking their heads in astonishment.

In one dramatic seizure, officers counted Sh5.46 million in cold, hard cash, money that had been stashed away in the suspects’ homes like loose change.

But the real bombshell came when investigators unearthed investments in government securities totalling a jaw-dropping Sh597 million.

The suspects, it appears, had been so confident in their scheme that they actually invested their stolen loot back into the very government they were robbing blind, earning interest on taxpayer money while Kenyan athletes struggled with lack of proper equipment and training facilities.

The convoy of shame included 13 motor vehicles, most of them high-end machines that turned heads on Kenyan roads.

EACC detectives drove them away one by one as neighbors watched in stunned silence. These were not your ordinary civil servant vehicles but the kind of rides that announce wealth and status from a mile away.

The property empire the suspects allegedly built on stolen money is equally mind-boggling.

Twenty-eight landed properties scattered across the country, each one a testament to how corruption can transform public servants into property moguls overnight.

From commercial plots in bustling town centers to residential mansions in exclusive neighborhoods, the suspects had apparently invested their ill-gotten gains into Kenya’s booming real estate market.

Investigators also froze 37 bank accounts bulging with suspicious funds.

These accounts, spread across multiple financial institutions, tell the story of systematic looting executed with military precision.

Money flowed in, was moved around, withdrawn, invested, and laundered through a complex web designed to hide its dirty origins.

The fraud scheme, according to EACC documents, was brutally simple yet devastatingly effective.

Senior officials at the State Department for Sports abused their positions of trust and authority to embezzle public funds through collusion and procurement fraud.

They allegedly manipulated procurement processes, creating phantom suppliers and inflated contracts that existed only on paper.

Enter the private sector accomplices. Dickson Kibunyi Mahia, who runs Turkenya Tours and Safaris Limited alongside Afromerch Travel Kenya Limited, allegedly played a starring role in the conspiracy.

Maureen Wangui Wambugu, director of Smart Flows Travel Limited, is also in investigators’ crosshairs.

These travel companies, detectives believe, were used as conduits to siphon public money through fake travel arrangements and inflated service contracts.

The modus operandi was textbook procurement fraud with a Kenyan twist.

Officials would identify upcoming travel needs for sports teams, tournaments, or administrative trips. They would then allegedly collude with their business partners to create grossly inflated quotations.

The paperwork looked legitimate, the approvals bore official stamps, and the money flowed out of government accounts like water from a burst pipe.

Except the services were either never rendered, grossly overpriced, or existed only in elaborate fiction.

What makes this scandal particularly galling is its timing and context.

Between 2020 and 2026, Kenyan athletes continued bringing glory to the nation on international stages, often despite rather than because of government support.

Stories of athletes training in sub-standard facilities, lacking proper gear, and struggling to make ends meet have been regular features in media reports.

Meanwhile, those charged with supporting these heroes were allegedly busy building personal empires with money meant for sports development.

David Muasya Musau, an accountant at the State Department of Sports, allegedly played the crucial role of financial gatekeeper-turned-accomplice.

As someone who should have been the last line of defense against fraud, he instead allegedly became an enabler, signing off on dubious transactions and helping to cover tracks.

The sophistication of the investment strategy reveals criminals who were not just stealing but planning for long-term wealth preservation.

By pumping Sh597 million into government securities, treasury bills and bonds that are considered among the safest investments in Kenya, the suspects were essentially using the government’s own financial instruments to safeguard their stolen wealth.

These securities offer predictable returns, are easily liquidated, and carry the full backing of the Kenyan state.

The irony is almost poetic: steal from the government, then lend it back to them at interest.

The Central Bank of Kenya, which manages government securities, requires investors to open CDS accounts and maintain proper documentation.

The question now being asked in financial circles is how such massive investments flying under the radar of various oversight mechanisms designed to catch exactly this kind of suspicious financial activity.

Were there red flags that were missed or ignored? Did anyone question how mid-level civil servants were investing hundreds of millions in government bonds?

As the five suspects were escorted to the EACC’s Integrity Centre for questioning, the mood among anti-corruption crusaders was one of grim satisfaction.

This operation represents months of painstaking investigation, following paper trails, connecting dots between seemingly unrelated transactions, and building a case brick by brick.

The evidence collected during Tuesday’s raids will now be analyzed, cross-referenced, and prepared for what promises to be a blockbuster prosecution.

EACC investigators are combing through bank statements, property documents, investment portfolios, and communication records.

Every shilling will be traced, every transaction scrutinized, every explanation tested against the evidence.

For the suspects, the walls are closing in.

They face potential charges including abuse of office, fraudulent acquisition of public property, corruption, conspiracy to defraud, and money laundering.

If convicted, they could spend years behind bars and lose every asset they acquired through their alleged criminal enterprise.

The commission has made it clear that this is not just about prosecution but also about recovery.

Every shilling stolen from Kenyan taxpayers must be recovered, every property seized, every investment liquidated and returned to public coffers.

It is a message that corruption does not pay, that stolen wealth will be found and taken back, and that no amount of clever investment strategies can launder dirty money clean.

As Kenya continues its fight against the cancer of corruption, this case will serve as a test of the country’s resolve.

Will the suspects face the full force of the law, or will this be another case that fizzles out in court? Will the stolen billions be recovered, or will legal technicalities allow criminals to keep their loot? Will other corrupt officials see this as a warning, or just as an occupational hazard?

The answers to these questions will determine not just the fate of five individuals but the credibility of Kenya’s entire anti-corruption architecture.

For now, Kenyans can only watch, wait, and hope that justice will finally be served hot and without the usual delays that have characterized previous high-profile graft cases.

What remains undeniable is that while the suspects allegedly lived large on stolen money, investing in bonds, buying properties, and cruising in luxury vehicles, the very sports sector they were meant to serve continued to struggle.

That is the real tragedy of corruption in Kenya: not just the stealing, but what that stolen money could have built, the athletes it could have supported, the facilities it could have constructed, and the dreams it could have fulfilled.

The EACC investigation continues.