An image of the front page of the Financial Times, where the headline claims the US Federal Reserve had opened an investigation into the whereabouts of Eurobond cash raised by Kenya in 2014, is fake, and no such headline was published by the newspaper, a spokesperson for the outlet has said.

The fake front page is dated November 28, 2023, and was shared on platform X (archived), formerly Twitter, and Facebook (archived) on November 30 and December 1.

The headline reads: “US Federal Reserve opens investigation on Kenya’s 2014 $2.75 billion Euro Bond” and has the byline of US-China correspondent Demetri Sevastopulo.

Reuters could not find the headline or story on the Financial Times website, nor was it listed among articles written by Sevastopulo. A Financial Times spokesperson said in an emailed response that it didn’t publish any such story.

In a November 30 post to X (archived), Sevastopulo also said the image was “a complete fake”, adding: “I did not write any story about Kenya.”

Kenya’s veteran opposition leader, Raila Odinga, said in 2015 that the government could not account for 140 billion shillings from a $2 billion Eurobond the year before. Following an investigation, the Kenyan prosecutor’s office said in May 2016 that it found no evidence of cash raised by the sovereign bond being misused or stolen.

President William Ruto said in November 2023 that Kenya would pay back $300 million of the Eurobond, which matures in June 2024, by December 2023.

The US Federal Reserve declined to comment.

• A Reuters report