Court summons Counterfeit agency boss over Sh11m fake face masks
3M brand N95 particulate respirators are displayed on a table.
The chief executive officer of the Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) has been summoned to court for failing to release the files of suspects in the sale of 20,000 fake face masks.
A medical doctor and two traders are charged with selling counterfeit face masks to Aga Khan University Hospital for Sh11 million.
Police have been ordered to arrest a director of the company that procured the masks for forging medical records from Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in a bid to skip prosecution.
Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu ordered the arrest and arraignment of Lilian Awuor, director at Real Time Company, the firm that procured the masks.
Ms Awuor will be charged alongside Dr Kimani Muthami, a private medical practitioner, Mr William Muthee and Ms Sylvia Wambui.
Dr Muthami, Mr Muthee and Ms Wambui have denied seven counts, including conspiring to import, sell and aid the sale of counterfeit goods.
When the case came up for a pretrial hearing, Ms Awuor failed to turn up in court, claiming she was unwell and admitted at KNH.
“Since the arraignment of the accused (in) early January this year police have never received the investigation file from ACA,” the prosecutor stated.
Defence lawyers Kibiru Njenga, Ishmael Nyaribo, Ceaser Wanjau and Gachie Mwanza said that they had not been supplied with witness statements.
The magistrate heard that the counterfeit goods imitated genuine ones which are clustered under Class 10. The fake masks were branded “3M” without the authority of 3M Company, the registered owner of “3M Trade Mark No.42326”
The suspects were charged that between December 30, 2020 and January 18, 2021, they conspired to sell 20,000 pieces of “3M”-branded masks valued at SH11 million without the authority of 3M Company.
Johngray Communications Ltd, of Dr Muthami, and the other suspect were accused of controlling the goods in the course of trade.
The defence lawyers urged the court to summon the chief executive of ACA for failing to provide the files of the accused to the police.
Ms Kimilu ordered the CEO to appear in court on February 28 to explain why the file in the case has not been released to the police.
The accused are out on a bond of Sh700,000 or alternative cash bail of Sh300,000.
