How Eric Ndungu Mwangi Stole KSh 84 Billions donation for HIV Kits

 

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A long-running international investigation has revealed how Eric Ndungu Mwangi, a 40-year-old Kenyan national, allegedly stole HIV test kits funded by the United States and intended to help patients in Kenya.

According to a federal indictment unsealed in the District of South Carolina, Mwangi and his company, Linear Diagnostics (LD), systematically diverted HIV test kits and other medical commodities from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA),


 a state corporation responsible for distributing essential health supplies. The stolen goods were part of the $650 million USAID-funded KEMSA Medical Commodities Program (MCP), which was meant to support Kenya’s fight against HIV/AIDS and strengthen the nation’s medical supply chain.

Investigators say Mwangi began stealing the American-funded test kits in 2014, later finding an overseas buyer in Davendra Rampersaud, a 42-year-old businessman from Guyana. Rampersaud, through his company Caribbean Medical Supplies, Inc. (CMS), fraudulently obtained authorization to distribute the stolen products and used it to win a sole-source contract with the Guyana Ministry of Health.

Between 2015 and 2019, Rampersaud paid Mwangi over $177,000 for the stolen HIV kits and other health commodities, which were then resold to the Guyanese government.

“This was an incredibly complicated investigation, spanning years and an ocean,” said U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina. “These defendants jeopardized a vital public health mission and caused a significant loss to the American taxpayers.”

Mwangi was arrested in Kenya in February 2021 on theft and fraud-related charges and is awaiting trial. If convicted on U.S. charges, he faces up to 20 years in prison, fines, and a term of supervised release.

Rampersaud, who was arrested in the United States in January 2023 during a layover in Miami, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and stealing U.S.-funded health commodities. He was sentenced in South Carolina to time served, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay an $84,000 fine.

The investigation was led by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID OIG), with support from multiple U.S. and international agencies.

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