Charleston, South Carolina – According to the Department of Justice, a Kenyan and a Guyanese national were prosecuted in South Carolina following an investigation into the theft of HIV test kits and other health supplies intended for Kenya.
According to U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina, Eric Mwangi, 40, of Kenya, and his company began deliberately stealing HIV test kits from a $650 million USAID-funded program called the KEMSA Medical Commodities Program, which was intended to provide care and treatment in Kenya.
Prosecutors claim Mwangi began selling medical goods meant for Kenya to Davendra Rampersaud, 42, of Guyana, and his company, Caribbean Medical goods, Inc., for $177,000 between 2015 and 2019. In 2015, Rampersaud received a bogus “Letter of Authority” allowing him to operate as an authorized distributor.
Mwangi was detained in 2021 by Kenyan authorities on theft and fraud accusations. He might face up to 20 years in prison for numerous American offenses. He is awaiting trial in Kenya.
Rampersaud was punished in a Charleston federal court after pleading guilty to conspiring and stealing or converting health commodities paid for by USAID.
Judge Richard Gergel sentenced Rampersaud to three years of supervised release and imposed a $84,000 fine.
“This was an incredibly complicated investigation, spanning years and an ocean,” Stirling told reporters. “These defendants jeopardized a vital public health mission and caused a significant loss to the American taxpayers.”
This matter was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Agency for International Development.
The Office of International Affairs, the Department of State’s Regional Security Offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Georgetown, Guyana, as well as United States Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations, all provided assistance.
Sean Kittrell and Dean Secor, Assistant United States Attorneys, are prosecuting this case.
