The 2016 Rio Olympics Chef De Mission Stephen Soi, is a free man after the High Court quashed his conviction over Kshs 55 million Rio 2016 Olympics case scandal.
The former National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK-K) walked free after the High Court Judge Esther Maina set aside the 17 years’ sentence imposed on him by trial magistrate Elizabeth Juma and ordered he be set free.
Soi was in September last year found guilty and slapped with Sh105 million fine or serve a 17-year jail term with unlawfully approved payments over dollars 151,500 as allowances to the members of the team.
The trial court found that Soi being part of the steering committee failed to disclose there was double payment of NOCK officials and that he also authorised the cancellation of air tickets resulting in a loss of Sh9.7 million in public funds.
While setting him free, Justice Maina said she subjected the evidence before the trial court through a fresh evaluation as required.
The judge said the trial magistrate did not take into consideration the defence that was put forth by Soi.
“If it had done so, it would have arrived at a different conclusion,” she said.
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