A Milimani court has heard that Brian Reeves allegedly posed as a Canadian Embassy consular and received more than Sh51 million from a travel company after promising to facilitate Canadian visa applications for its clients.

The court was told that Reeves received a total of Sh51,244,065 through bank and mobile money transactions in connection with the alleged visa processing arrangement.

An investigating officer told the court that the amount initially reported as having been obtained from the complainant was Sh89,185,000, but investigators later revised the figure after excluding cash transactions which they said could not be independently verified.

The complainant, Golden Key Travel Consultant Limited, was identified in court as a company involved in travel arrangements, including services for clients travelling to Canada.

Investigators confirmed the company’s registration through its certificate of incorporation and a CR12 document.

The court also heard that the company previously operated under the name Galden Key Travel Consultant Limited before changing its name to Golden Key Travel Consultant Limited.

According to the investigating officer, Reeves introduced himself to representatives of the company as a consular working at the Canadian Embassy.

The company allegedly entered into an arrangement with him to facilitate visa applications for clients seeking to travel to Canada.

In the course of the investigation, detectives obtained documents that included receipts, acknowledgement forms, visa appointment and biometric application documents and authorisation letters which were allegedly used in the transactions.

The officer further told the court that detectives recovered what they believe were fraudulent identification documents from Reeves’ residence following his arrest.

Among the items recovered were a fake Seychelles expatriate card and an identification card, which investigators believe were used to reinforce his representation to the victims.

The court heard that the money was transferred to accounts associated with Reeves by the company’s director and employees acting on behalf of the travel firm.

Company director Bonventure Arandi allegedly transferred Sh1,275,000 through a bank transaction and a further Sh230,000 through M-Pesa.

Nancy Nanjira Odungo is said to have transferred Sh28,861,650 through bank and M-Pesa transactions, while another employee, Grace Wamboge Wamboka, transferred Sh20,277,000 through similar channels.

The investigating officer also testified about a Sh445,000 transaction involving Lydia Nyangala Kea.

He told the court that bank statements obtained during the investigation confirmed that the funds were received in accounts linked to Reeves.

The investigation also involved correspondence with the Canadian Embassy concerning the visa applications allegedly handled through Reeves.

The investigating officer said detectives wrote to the embassy on January 29, 2025, seeking information concerning 141 clients whose visa applications were purportedly submitted through the arrangement.

Although the embassy did not provide investigators with details of the individual applicants, the officer said it responded on April 17, 2025, confirming that Reeves was not a consular working at the embassy.

The court was further told that six clients successfully obtained visas and travelled to Canada.

The prosecution said the successful applications contributed to the travel company’s confidence in Reeves and the arrangement.

However, investigators later established that several other visas supplied to the company were allegedly fake.

Reeves’ lawyer challenged the production of several documents relied upon by the prosecution, arguing that some had been presented by witnesses who were not their makers and therefore could not authenticate them.

Milimani Magistrate Paul Mutai, however, ruled that the production of a document and its eventual admissibility were separate issues.

The magistrate allowed the prosecution to proceed with the production of the documents, while leaving questions surrounding their admissibility to be determined at a later stage.

The investigating officer also told the court that Reeves was arrested after detectives had traced and confirmed the financial transactions.

Electronic devices recovered from him were subjected to cyber-forensic examination as part of the investigation.

The prosecution’s case is continuing, with the defence expected to cross-examine the investigating officer.