Controversial televangelist David Ngare Kariuki, aka Gakuyo,
spent the better part of Thursday at the economic crimes department of
the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Detectives
questioned Mr Gakuyo over claims that he siphoned more than Sh1 billion
saved by over 78,000 people at the troubled Ekeza Sacco and used it to
spruce up his lifestyle.
TAKE ACTION
This
came a day after Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i instructed
police to speed up the arrest of Ekeza Sacco officials, where Gakuyo is
the chairman.
Dr Matiang’i, who spoke
during the Police Sacco’s AGM in Nairobi on Tuesday, said: “It is true,
there is nothing to hide … we are hot on the trail of officials of
Ekeza and the others. We will have no mercy … we have agreed with the
inspector-general (of police) to go after these people and make them
face the law.”
At the DCI offices, Mr
Gakuyo, who was accompanied by a team of six lawyers led by Mr Dunstan
Omari, spent slightly over an hour and did not speak to the media.
Before appearing at the DCI, the preacher, who
has also been grappling with allegations that he forged his academic
papers, resigned through a letter as adviser to Kiambu Governor
Ferdinand Waititu. He did not cite the reasons for his resignation.
Mr
Omari said the preacher presented himself after word went round that
police were looking for him over the mess at Ekeza, where disgruntled
members have been asking the government to take action against him.
CAT AND MOUSE
“There
was word going around that the bishop has gone into hiding and that the
DCI was looking for him. As his lawyers, we presented him (so that) if
there is a complaint against him, he can clarify. The DCI has confirmed
that no complaint has been lodged against our client,” Mr Omari told
reporters outside the DCI headquarters.
But Mr Omari said that a few minutes before Mr Gakuyo arrived at the DCI, a formal complaint was filed by the Trade ministry.
He
said that the document from the ministry had not been read and that the
DCI would look at it. The lawyer, however, said no formal report had
been recorded in the police occurrence book.
But
even as Mr Gakuyo, the overseer of Calvary Chosen Centre Church in
Thika, fought claims of fraud at Ekeza, he is facing new fraud claims in
which he allegedly used similar tricks to swindle people through his
real estate firm.
He is said to have
started an investors’ club at Gakuyo Real Estate, where he and his wife
Hannah Wachu are co-directors, and asked Kenyans to invest their money
to help the company run the business and in return reap a two per cent
monthly interest.
Mr Gakuyo allegedly only remitted the interest for a few months before starting a cat-and-mouse game.
DAILY NATION
DAILY NATION
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