US agency sues woman for refusing to refund $65,683.50 mistakenly paid for 1998 terror attack
The money was supposed to go to a Mary Njoki Muiruri, but due to a mix-up in middle names, the money went to the wrong person. Ms Ngunyi is yet to respond to the suit.
A US agency that was tasked with compensating victims of the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi 23 years ago, has sued a Kenyan woman for refusing to repay money that was paid by error into her bank account.
According to the Daily Post in Kenya, Mary Ngunyi Muiruri is said to have received $65,683.50 (Sh7.4 million) from the 1998 United States Embassy Bombing Qualified Fund.
The agency, Epiq Systems Inc, claimed the money was supposed to have gone to Mary Njoki Muiruri, but due to confusion with middle names, it went to the wrong person instead.
The agency has therefore gone to the High Court, requesting to obtain a return order against Mary Ngunyi Muiruri.
Ms. Ngunyi is however yet to respond to the suit, local media say.
She is also reported to have spent majority of the funds deposited in her bank account.
According to the Post, court documents show that there was only $5, 553(Sh 633, 319) left in her bank account when the agency obtained a freeze order in February 2021.
“She withdrew the monies by writing nine cheques between November 2020 and January 2021," the Post reported.
Background
A number of Kenyans filed lawsuits in US courts against Sudan and Iran between 2008 and 2012, demanding compensation for injuries and deaths caused by the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi in August 1998.
In 2014, the victims were awarded $907 million.
Epiq Systems Inc, a US-registered consulting firm, was recruited to oversee the court-ordered award distribution.
The firm then assisted in the formation of the 1998 United States Embassy Bombing Qualified Fund, which would hold the cash until it was time to distribute it to the victims.
Despite the fact that Ms Ngunyi was also a victim of the 1998 terror assault, her case against the Republics of Sudan and Iran is still ongoing in US courts.
In court filings, Mr Charles Marr, an Epiq Systems employee and the project coordinator for the 1998 United States Embassy Bombing Qualified Fund, claims that the name mix-up was caused by MM Law, the law firm that filed litigation on behalf of the terror attack victims.
“MM Law’s error occurred as a result of the close similarity between the first defendant’s name and the intended lawful beneficiary. Except for their middle names, the first defendant and the intended lawful beneficiary have exactly similar names as they appear in MM Law’s database/records. Based on the explanation provided I verily believe that MM Law made a genuine mistake and error,” Mr Marr said.
The fund claims that the monies should have been blocked by the local bank, which should be held liable alongside Ms Ngunyi.
However, the bank reportedly said in court documents it could not authoritatively determine who was the true beneficiary of the funds because it was not a party to the US court cases involving compensation for terror attack victims.
