How shady security agents and cops steal millions in cash-in-transit business

Friday, March 21st 2014; By HUDSONGUMBIHI hunguku@standardmedia.co.ke

The Cash-in-Transit (CIT) business has been turned into a gold mine by unscrupulous police officers working in cahoots with crooked security firm employees, The Nairobian can reveal. In collusion with employees of security firms engaged in the physical transfer of bank notes and coins, the officers, who have grown extremely rich and influential, siphon huge sums of money meant for the government. Shocking evidence The officers together with their collaborators allegedly exploit loopholes and regulation lapses to rip-off the state, which gets a paltry fraction of the revenue generated from CIT services.
Now officers, who spoke to The Nairobian on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, are calling for thorough investigation and an audit of the CIT process. “They (government) will be shocked at the amount of millions of shillings stolen. The evidence is not difficult to gather,” said one of the officers. The CIT business involves banks engaging private security companies to transfer huge sums of money on their behalf. Due to security concerns and risks, it is now mandatory for such security firms to have armed police escort and a chase car. The order by then Internal Security minister the late John Michuki, follows a series of daring robberies in which the officers that previously escorted cash in transit were gunned down in cold blood. Sh500 daily allowance The cost of hiring the officers is met by the security firms and should be remitted to the government through the ‘Appropriation in Aid Account’ at Sh800 from each officer on CIT duties. In turn, each officer earns a daily allowance of Sh500.

But since there are no proper checks and balances during the cash remittance process, police in charge of deploying or seconding juniors to such assignments pocket some of the dough. According to a senior officer privy to the scandal, the theft has been going on for a long time and that millions, maybe billions, of shillings have been stolen. “For instance, where I work I know for certain that the government is supposed to be getting about Sh8 million every month, but it ends up getting only Sh2 million. The rest is pocketed by one officer and his collaborators,” said the policeman. In some circumstances when payments are made, two cheques are issued – one for the government and the other for individual police officers benefitting from the scam. However officers prefer receiving their cut in cash. “Please kindly arrange to pay cash being payment for services rendered by our Administration Police officers from the month of February,” reads a text message instruction allegedly sent by an officer to a cashier of a leading security firm. As a rule, official government communication is only in writing, not on phone or text messages. An effort to reach one of the security firms implicated elicited a rude response from a lady said to be the one making the payments: “You are calling the wrong person, that is not my name and this is a personal line. Look for the office number. Call it being rude, I don’t care,” she said curtly before hanging up. ‘Those are lies’ At the height of violent robberies targeting CIT, a special unit within the Administration Police Service was formed in 2007 to escort and protect cash in transit. Officers were drawn from Administration Police Training College (APTC), Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) and Security for Government Buildings (SGB). Deputy head of RDU Sheikh Abdi termed the corruption claims as baseless. “Those are lies, there is nothing like that,” he declared. The APTC said it has only 18 officers deployed to CIT duties, denying claims they were involved in graft. A senior officer at the SGB who requested anonymity said theirs was a transparent process. “We issue invoices to the security firms who give us cheques, which we forward to the government every month and we have the records,” he said. Police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi said the AP Service adhered to financial guidelines and cautioned commanders against violating the same as he called on officers with useful information to forward it in confidence for appropriate action. “Commanders know that if they deploy officers the money should be remitted to the government. From time to time we send out auditors and where there are anomalies the officers will have to explain. Any commander diverting funds should understand that what they are doing is wrong and they will be answerable for the financial misappropriation,” he said.

The CIT revelation came against the backdrop of claims by a section of officers in the city that they were being ordered to undertake assignments outside their job description. Engaged in private deals In a petition to Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo and copied National Police Service Commission chairman Johnstone Kavuludi, Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) chairman Macharia Njeru and Deputy Inspector General Samuel Arachi, the disgruntled officers alleged that some seniors were using their offices to pursue personal interests. They alleged they were being forced to guard premises and institutions that did not deserve protection. “Our code of conduct is very clear on the above issues and we feel that somebody could be misusing the force for personal gains. We are not able to discharge our duties as we out to be doing because simply we are engaged in private deals,” reads part of the letter. When sought for his views about the petition, IPOA chairman threw the blame on Kavuludi, claiming the commission had failed to come up with a clear policy on transfer and deployment. “That is a matter that falls under their jurisdiction. But of course it is a matter we can investigate. If the National Police Service Commission did its work, such complaints cannot arise. Officers should not guard such places, it is the work of private security guards,” said Njeru.