Three officers from Anti Counterfeit Agency were on Wednesday arraigned before a Kericho Court charged with receiving money from suspected traders dealing with Counterfeit goods.
It was alleged that Martin Luther Bwangah, Robert Chirchir and Effie Alouch jointly requested for a financial advantage from traders within Litein Trading center in Kericho County as an inducement so as not to charge them for dealing in counterfeit goods.
The suspects were arrested on the 6th of April 2017 along Kericho -Litein road by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption officers.
It was alleged that the three suspects had requested for Sh.80, 000 from Winnie Chirchir, Sh.70, 000 from Moses Cheruiyot, Sh.80, 000 from John Langat and Sh.50, 000 from John Cheruiyot, all traders within Litein Trading center.
On the day of arrest, a total of Sh.201, 000 was recovered having been stashed in various parts of the vehicle they were travelling in.
Testifying before court, Agusto Meka who is a forensic investigator at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) said that he was alerted of imposters conning traders of their money. He added that Luther, Chirchir and Aluoch had sent fake letters to traders warning them on the issue of dealing in counterfeit goods.
The Chief Magistrate (CM), Samuel Mokua ruled that the case is set for hearing on November 28, 2019.
By Dominic Cheres / Joyce Sang
