Using the Kingpin act,US President Barack Obama Thursday listed Mr Mwau and businesswoman Naima Mohamed Nyakinywa as drug traffickers and slapped harsh economic sanctions against them.
Those listed as drug traffickers stand to lose all their property in the US, or any business in which they have an interest. This is because many international financial transfers are processed in the US.
The Kingpin Act, signed into law on December 3, 1999, gives the US government power to seize property belonging to people the president believes are drug dealers.
It also gives the government authority to block the property of any person or company “materially assisting in, or providing financial or technological support for or to, or providing goods or services in support of, the international narcotics trafficking activities of a person”.
US citizens are prohibited from doing business with listed suspects and those who violate the law can be fined up to $5 million (Sh400m) and face up to 30 years in jail. Companies can be fined up to $10 million (Sh800 million).
President Obama, in a report to the US Congress dated June 1, 2011, wants Mr Mwau’s US assets seized under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
The ban came alongside that of five other individuals from Mexico, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan namely Manuel Torres Felix (Mexico), Gonzalo Inzunza Inzunza (Mexico), Haji Lal Jan Ishaqzai (Afghanistan), Kamchybek Asanbekovich Kolbayev (Kyrgyzstan) and Javier Antonio Calle Serna (Colombia).
A press release from the White House said in part: “This report to the Congress, under section 804(a) of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, 21 U.S.C. 1901-1908 (the “Kingpin Act”), transmits my designations of the following seven foreign individuals as appropriate for sanctions under the Kingpin Act and reports my direction of sanctions against them under the Act”.
These are not the first foreigners to be targeted by the US. Former Panama President Manuel Noriega was arrested and jailed over drug trafficking, while Colombian Pablo Escobar was killed after being on the run for decades.
The US Treasury says all property and interests in property can be seized if it belongs to a person identified by the president as a “significant foreign narcotics trafficker”.
Property can also be taken over if the Secretary of Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and other departments, believes the owners help or take part in international narcotics trafficking activities.
It is not clear what property Mr Mwau and Ms Nyakinywa own in the US, but Mr Mwau is linked to more than 12 companies that include the Nakumatt chain of supermarkets.
A report tabled in Parliament by police also shows that Mr Mwau has vast interests in Mwundo Ltd, Africa Centre for Hope Initiative Everywhere, Harun International Ltd, JH City Ltd, Preme Ltd, JN Records Ltd, Pepe Enterprises Ltd, Sheltown Ltd, Sports Champions Ltd, Tom Brown Ltd, Vitu Ltd and Kuston Kenya Ltd.
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