Former National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Geoffrey Mwangi and Simon Kirgotty alongside 16 other suspects were on Monday charged with the loss of Ksh1.1 billion at the organisation.
Mwangi and Kirgotty were freed on a Ksh 2 million cash bail each while the other sixteen suspects were freedon cash bails ranging from Ksh 300,000 to Ksh 1 million
The prosecution preferred seven counts against Kirgotty including abuse of office, wilful failure to comply with procurement procedures and wilful failure to comply with the law stipulating how public funds ought to be managed.
Assistant DPP Emily Kamau told the court that Kirgotty conferred a benefit by authorising payment of Ksh 545 million to Webtribe Limited, a company contracted by NHIF to collect payments on its behalf.
Further, Mwangi is said to have maintained the status quo when he took over and authorised the payment which could have led to loss of public money at the fund.
Webtribe directors including Danson Muchemi and Robert Muriithi who all denied charges of receiving Ksh1 billion from the fund were also charged.
Audit committee membersMudzo Nzili, Yussuf Ibrahim and Elly Nyaim also denied charges of breach of trust when they approved extension of the contract.
The Asset Recovery Agency has already begun the process of recovering the looted funds from the suspects.
