Bomet engineer linked to Ksh.1.2B theft of county funds escapes EACC officers

Engineer Victor Cheruiyot was on the commission's radar for using his position to irregularly acquire multimillion tenders through several companies such as Hamron Logistics Ltd, Wincheru Construction Ltd and Vird Building & Construction Ltd between January 2019 and May 2022.

The search for the engineer led EACC officers to Cheruiyot's home in Bomet. According to EACC, the engineer managed to escape the officers' trap and fled from the scene. 

A search in his house revealed that the engineer had established a full-fledged office for making fake documents for non-existent construction works that would be used in facilitating payments with top county officials. 

"Also recovered from his house are volumes of various procurement and payment documents including ‘approved’ contacts for various companies, bid documents awaiting approval signature, local purchase orders, unused payment vouchers, procurement requisitions for various construction works and requests for payments to various companies, all suspected to be forgeries," EACC said. 

The commission pinned Cheruiyot as a suspect in the multi-billion theft following the arrest of County Executive Committee members (CECs) on Thursday, October 24. 

The CECs are wanted over alleged unexplained wealth, procurement fraud, and embezzlement of Ksh.373 million through fraudulent procurement of 12 heavy road construction machines and trucks in the Financial Year 2022/2023.