A Nairobi bank manager has been charged with aiding the terror attack that occurred at the 14 Riverside Drive complex in January. DTB Bank manager Sophia Njoki Mbogo who heads the Eastleigh branch of Diamond Trust Bank was arraigned before Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi.
Charges read to her indicate that she aided and abetted a terrorist act by failing to report suspicious transactions amounting to Sh. 34.7 million suspected to have been used to fund the attack. She also faced four counts of failure to report suspicious money laundering acts that occurred between December 4, 2018 and January 5, 2019 at the bank.
Earlier, the director of public prosecution had said that the bank allowed one of the terrorists to withdraw more Sh. 5 million in a day.
Apparently, Hassan Nur made 13 withdrawals of Sh. 400,000 each within short intervals on January 4, with an additional withdrawal of Sh. 100,000 the same day. The transactions were done DTB Eastleigh branch under manager Sophia Mbogo.
Ms. Mbogo was arrested among six suspects that were arraigned in court on January 23 for failing to report the bulk suspicious transactions. The Anti-Terrorism Police Unit said the money was sent from South Africa and was wired to Somalia.
She has been in custody for the last 30 days, having been arrested two weeks after the attack that was claimed by Al Shabaab. Her bail application will be argued Wednesday afternoon.
