A Milimani Commercial Court has ordered the suspension of transactions in two Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) accounts belonging to Kenya’s Ambassador to Cuba, Everlyne Mwenda Karisa, after she alleged that fraudulent withdrawals were made from her account while she was stationed abroad.
In a ruling delivered at the Milimani Commercial Courts, Senior Principal Magistrate Lucy Njora directed that no further transactions be conducted on Karisa’s KCB account and her linked dollar account pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The court also ordered the bank to file a detailed report within 14 days explaining how the disputed transactions occurred and to provide documentary proof of any refund it claims to have made to the diplomat.
Karisa moved to court stating that while serving as Kenya’s Ambassador to Cuba, unauthorized transactions were carried out on her account on November 11 and 12, 2025. She told the court that the money was transferred to her mobile number and that additional transactions, including a Vooma salary advance loan and a transfer to another individual, were processed without her authorization.
She further informed the court that the Safaricom line linked to the account had last been active on October 13, 2024, raising suspicion over any activity conducted afterward.
KCB, in response, said it began investigations immediately after receiving the complaint and claimed it had refunded KSh 413,728.75 as a goodwill gesture after preliminary checks showed the ambassador was outside the country at the time of the transactions. However, the bank disputed claims that an additional KSh 779,603 had been lost, arguing that the figure cited by the diplomat was inaccurate and that investigations involving relevant authorities were still ongoing.
Karisa told the court she could not verify the alleged refund because the bank had declined to provide documentary proof despite requests made through her lawyers.
In her ruling, Magistrate Njora noted that the relationship between a bank and its customer is based on trust and that financial institutions have a duty to safeguard customer funds and account for transactions conducted on their accounts. The court held that suspending further transactions was necessary to preserve the accounts and prevent potential additional losses while the dispute is being resolved.
The case will now proceed to hearing, with KCB required to disclose the status and findings of its investigations and produce evidence of any refund allegedly made to the ambassador.
In the case, the ambassador through lawyer Danstan Omari sued the bank after her money was taken from her account in unclear circumstances.
