Court rejects seizure of ex-Somalia diplomat’s assets on terror links

In the recovery suit filed in August 2024 at the Economic Crimes Court in Milimani, Nairobi, ARA wanted the court to declare the properties owned by Mr Moxamed and Jibca Services Limited terrorist-owned.

Subsequently, it pleaded for an order of forfeiture and transfer to the State. The house was purchased from Siana Properties Limited for Sh110.5 million.

It was alleged that the money used to purchase the apartment was transferred by one Abdi Nasir Ali Mahamud, a suspected terrorist listed on the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)-Treasury Sanctions Network Financing Houthi Aggression and Instability in Yemen.

ARA said Mr Ali was on Kenya’s security watch list and had, between 2013 and 2018, entered and left Kenya eight times.

However, Justice Benjamin Musyoki dismissed the application and ruled that there was no evidence from ARA linking the company and Mr Moxamed to terrorism or Mr Ali. There were no details or explanations.

“All that the ARA has done is to tell the court that it has done investigations, which discloses reasons to believe that the respondents are part of the scheme and chain of the terrorist group but it does not give details, explanations, and evidence to that effect. If indeed the investigations showed that Mr Moxamed was linked to Mr Ali, then ARA must be blamed for withholding that evidence from the court,” said the judge.

The court took note of Mr Moxamed’s engagements in many international arenas and that he still holds diplomatic passports of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Great Britain, and Ireland. He has served in high offices in his country such as being former ambassador for the Federal Republic of Somalia and first counsellor and deputy head of mission to Malaysia for Somalia.

“His only crime in this matter, if the ARA were to be believed, is selling his family inheritance to Mr Ali. In my view, forfeiting the proceeds from the sale would be taking his legitimate inheritance from him yet it has not been traced to any criminal activity. The ARA should have done more in terms of investigations for this court to be justified in taking such a drastic measure against Mr Moxamed,” said Justice Musyoki.

For his part, Mr Moxamed explained that the money in question were proceeds of inheritance after selling a house in Mogadishu, which he inherited from his mother, in September 2023.

The court heard that he sold the property, known as Sudan House, to Dahir Mohamoud Mohamed for $2.2 million (Sh285 million) and that the sale was thoroughly scrutinised by the Financial, Economic and Cyber Crimes Unit and the office of the Attorney General of Federal Republic of Somalia.

He said his intention in buying the Westlands property was to retire and settle in Kenya with his family.

Mr Moxamed denied interacting with Mr Ali physically or through the phone or otherwise. He insisted that during the transaction on the house in Mogadishu, he only met the Notary Public and Dahir Mohamoud, whom he understood to be representing the purchaser’s interest. He also denied ever receiving money from Mr Ali.

The genesis of the matter was the transfer of $560,000 (equivalent to Sh72.5 million) by Dahir Mohamoud to the account of Jibca Services Limited in the I&M Bank Riverside branch in February and March 2024.

ARA alleged the money, which was traceable to Mr Ali as proceeds of the sale of a house in Somalia, was paid on behalf of Mr Ali to Jibca, a company incorporated on February 9, 2024, with Mr Moxamed as one of its two shareholders and the only signatory.

ARA said the receiving account later engaged in suspicious rapid transactions leaving zero balance.

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