Chinese workers in Kenya arrested for bribery in a railway ticket scam

Three Chinese railway workers were arrested on Friday for attempting to bribe investigators of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations – Kenya (DCI) in an ongoing criminal investigation at the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Terminus.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), the three Chinese nationals, who work for the China Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) offered investigators Kshs 500,000 (almost $5,000) as “an inducement to influence” the outcome of the investigations.

Li Gen, the in-charge of Transport, Li Xiaowu, Security Manager, and Sun Xin, member of staff, appeared in a Mombasa court on Monday on bribery charges. They were remanded in custody with their bail hearing set for Friday, November 30.

According to the Daily Nation, the $3.8 billion China-funded Standard Gauge Railway has been hit with a multi-million-shilling ticketing scam.

The fraudulent activities, according to the Daily Nation involved creating refunds for tickets then diverting the refunded monies elsewhere. This amounted to about Kshs 1 million (almost $10, 000) being stolen daily.

Three Kenyan employees of the CRBC have also been arrested in connection with the scam.

This recent incident adds to a list of several allegations against CRBC, which is managing the Standard Gauge Railway for ten years.

When the “Madaraka Express” was officially launched, an eight-woman team was introduced to the public out of the 65 Kenyan and Chinese drivers as those who will take control of the locomotives. They were seen only once in their uniforms in the driver’s seat ahead of the launch and never again.

Chinese employees were also accused of racism and discrimination by some Kenyan staff in an exposé by The Standard newspaper.

BY FRANCIS AKHALBEY
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