Strange case of Belgian lover who gives local girls millions

Sociologist Steven Aitshison is famous for his quote saying outer beauty captures the eyes while inner beauty attracts the heart. That saying aptly  epitomises the case of Belgian billionaire Marc de Messel, who deposited Sh107 million ($915,000) in the account of a 21-year-old woman , and  says he did so out of love.

Besides her awe-inspiring figure, Messel says that he was moved by Felesta Nyamathira Njoroge’s unquantified love for him and her acceptance to conceive with him a child. Thus he decided to gift her millions of shillings.

“That striking beauty in her, as well as her wasp-waist, drove me into giving her that amount of money. Out of my sheer love for her; I am even ready to do anything that can please and make her live comfortably,” Messel says in papers he has filed in court.

The Belgian tycoon reveals details of Nyamathira’s striking beauty in the bulky documents filed at Milimani Law Court and how they met and fell in love instantly.

Laundering syndicate

He has denied allegations that he is involved in an international money laundering syndicate. The documents also unmask Messel, a man who has left Kenyans in awe over his generosity to women he claims to have fallen in love with at first sight.

 “That the said Marc de Messel, who is my boyfriend, is a reputable and internationally-known investor. Famous for his early publicly-announced investments in Bitcoin in 2013 and Tesla in 2019,” some of the documents state.

In the documents, Messel says he came to Kenya in 2017, met his three girlfriends, transferred millions of shillings into their accounts and those of their relatives, had four children with them and eloped with the other while she was pregnant.

He names his girlfriends as Sarah Wambui Kamanda, with whom he sired a male child on June 28, 2019; Tebby Wambuku Kago, with whom they had two baby girls on September 8, 2018 and June 19, 2020; and Nyamathira, whom he describes as his favourite, and gave birth to a boy on February 22, 2022.

Interestingly, all the three women lived in close proximity to each other and on separate occasions introduced De Mesel to their relatives as ‘my husband’, with elaborate plans for their wedding.

Nyamathira has also filed a separate affidavit in court, through Agnel Nadida of Ndindi and Nadida law firm, denying any involvement in money laundering and accusing the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) of a witch-hunt.

“Freezing the accounts will be against my child’s rights as envisaged in the Constitution and the Children’s Act as it is required of Messel to shoulder parental responsibility by frequently sending money to my account for his child’s well-being,” Nyamathira says in her affidavit.

The tycoon, who describes himself as an honest and responsible investor who has never been involved in any criminal activity, and has never been summoned by any investigative agency, wants to be enjoined in the suit since he voluntarily disbursed the money to his lovers.

“I have voluntarily given a personal gift of $230,000, $225,000, $232,000 and $228,000 — a total of $915,000 — from my account at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), with my girlfriend Felesta Nyamathira Njoroge with USD account at Co-operative Bank for her support. I hope that she builds financial security for herself and our future children. She is free to use the said gifted amount as per her will,” states Messel in a declaration filed in court.

The tycoon states in his affidavit that he decided to give his long-time Kenyan girlfriend, a student at the Nairobi Technical Training Institute (NTTI), the huge sums of cash a few months after it was confirmed she was pregnant with his baby.

“l hope that l will give more quality time, love and attention to my kids, than l got from my parents. Giving them a rich environment where they can learn a lot, by giving them the freedom to follow their curiosity instead of wanting them to learn what l like, or become what l want. I am not interested in forcing them into boring subjects,” Messel states.

“There is no rule or regulation stopping or prohibiting an individual from receiving a gift, especially from someone who they are in an intimate relationship with, and by whom they have sired children,” reads the court papers.

Mother and father

The two lovers have also tabled a DNA test certificate in court, conducted at a global laboratory, which reveals that Nyamathira and Messel are the mother and father of the child born in February this year.

The prenatal test from International Diagnostics Center in Netera, in San Carlos, United States, tasked with DNA sampling of the two lovers, reveals that there is a 99 per cent chance the duo sired the child.

On allegations by the government that they are part of an international money laundering syndicate using Kenyan women to clean suspicious money, the billionaire says he has never been part of such a racket as he is a crypto investor and philanthropist.

“My source of income is capital appreciation by investing in different assets, such as stocks, bonds, precious metals, etc. I have invested, for example, in Tesla, an American automotive and clean energy firm in the past few years,” states Messel.

The Belgian says he always thinks big about his investments, and looks at them from different angles. “I try to objectively see the pros and cons, the real risks and potential rewards. I also try to be in touch with my feelings, and what they tell me about a person or investment,” he claims.

“I grew up in Belgium, the northern Dutch part called Flanders. l got into investments in 2008 and invested in crypto currencies and stocks. l usually hold these investments for many years,” he says.

Messel has also filed police clearance certificates, both from Kenya and Belgium Federal Public Service, showing he has no criminal record. “There is no criminal investigations against Messel in his home country, there is no complaint against the bank which sent the funds, nor are there any inquires that had been made or are pending before  the activities in the brokerage and his accounts abroad from where the funds came from,” states the court documents.

Further, Mesel says he  has  a clean record from his home country Belgium and has never been accused, indicted, convicted or rumoured to be in any criminal activity or criminal enterprise.

The billionaire is said to have deposite the millions of shillings to his lover in four tranches.The first deposit of Sh25,803,756 was made on August 4, 2021. A second deposit of Sh25,803,756 was made on August 5, with the third and fourth deposits coming in on August 6 ... but as separate transactions of Sh25,242,756 and Sh25,579,356.

After the money hit his girlfriend’s accounts, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) raided their home in Garden City along Thika Road and apprehended them, accusing him of funding unlawful activities.

On her side, Nyamathira states that she gave birth in February this year while in Belgium and has given ARA several documents showing she received the money from Messel, her boyfriend.

“I only gave birth recently in  February as indicated in my child’s birth certificate presented before this court,” she states.

“l can confirm that l did, in fact, receive funds from Marc Freddy De Messel, who is still my boyfriend . The purpose of the said funds was purchase of a house and to invest part of the money to ensure our child and myself live at a comfortable place and his  needs are well  taken care of,” Nyamathira says.

The case will be heard on July 11. 

“This is a mark of a responsible father, who ought to be applauded as his said actions are in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution of Kenya and the Children’s Act laws of Kenya as far as parental responsibility is concerned,” Nyamathira declares.

Nyamathira states that if the court grants the forfeiture orders sought by ARA, it would give it credence and legitimacy to be fabricating allegations in order to falsely accuse Kenyans with a view of freezing and seizing their monies even where the same has been legally acquired.

According to the documents, Nyamathira upon receiving the cash she sent her Mother Anne Kaara Sh7 million in her Equity bank account and bought her a home at Eyria Nest homes limited in Kiambu valued at Sh6 million.

She further purchased two parcels of land from Felix capital limited valued at Sh4.6 million. The case will be heard on July 11.