Marc De Mesel and his girlfriend Felista Nyamathira Njoroge

A High Court judge has cited Sh102 million gifted to a Kenyan college student by her Belgian boyfriend as “proceeds of crime” and ordered that the money be forfeited to the state.

Justice Esther Maina ruled that the funds gifted to Felista Nyamathira Njoroge by her billionaire boyfriend Marc De Mesel had not been explained and that the crypto personality failed to show how he earned the money.

The judge said they gave Marc De Mesel an opportunity to explain the source of his funds, but he didn’t respond. In the absence of an explanation, the judge explained that the state benefits from the money wired into the country’s bank account from abroad.

“I have analyzed and gone through the evidence tendered by the boyfriend and it did not show the source of funds that were wired to the Kenya woman friend,”

In November 2021, the court allowed the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) to freeze the Sh 102 million that was wired to the university student in August.

Felista Nyamathira Njoroge made headlines in 2021 when she revealed that the DCI has intercepted money sent to her by her boyfriend for personal use. The Belgian tycoon is also reported to have transferred more huge sums of money to three other Kenyan women in the same period.

The Brussels Times that in September 2021, Kenyan police raided the millionaire’s home in relation to the suspicious payments made to his girlfriend. De Mesel, in a video on YouTube, stated that there was nothing suspicious about the payments.

“My girlfriend told them that the money was a gift from me, that we’re in a relationship with kids, and she’s pregnant. Normally they leave you alone after this explanation. You don’t have to pay taxes on donations here,” De Mesel explained. “We’ve been living in fear ever since, we’re afraid they will come back.”