
Ezekiel fights to unfreeze accounts
Tuesday, Pastor Ezekiel Odero filed a lawsuit in an effort to get court orders freezing his bank accounts overturned as the government continues to look into allegations of money laundering.
He requests that Milimani Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi unconditionally rescind the orders freezing his 28 separate bank accounts and seven M-Pesa lines that were issued on Monday.
“The court be pleased to discharge and unconditionally set a side of its orders issued on May 8, 2023 together with any consequential orders thereto,” Odero stated in court documents.
Ezekiel fights to unfreeze accounts
The preacher asserts that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) acted malignly by obtaining the orders while there is another case proceeding at the Mombasa Law Court through attorneys Sam Nyaberi and Samuel Ogechi.
Nyaberi claimed that the state’s decision to freeze his accounts without giving him a chance to respond was illegitimate and in violation of the constitution.
He continues by saying that the move made by the state to submit the motion in Nairobi was intended to embarrass both the court’s handling of the matter and the proceedings in the High Court in Mombasa.
He continues, “That is no way have I engaged in and or gotten connected with pastor Mackenzie as alleged and no nexus, links and or connection whatsoever exists between my operations and those of pastor Mackenzie to warrant the closure of the accounts as purported in the application.”
Odero claims that the freeze orders will have an impact on more than 2000 pupils for whom he provides food and pays school fees.
Odero claims that the freeze orders will have an impact on more than 2000 pupils for whom he provides food and pays school fees.
The Church and the Schools operations will suffer a tremendous setback as a result of the closing of my accounts since maintaining the daily needs of the over 2000 students would be a logistical headache. Because of the illegally acquired orders, kids face an immediate risk of missing the start of the semester with their peers as schools resume this week, he claims.
Odero is contesting the court order preventing him and his associates from withdrawing or transferring the funds for at least 30 days while police undertake their investigations.
Ezekiel fights to unfreeze his accounts