Nairobi/London - Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has called off a probe into a huge fraud involving contracts with the Kenyan government, saying Kenya had failed to provide evidence to allow it to prosecute those responsible.

The fraud, which took place between April 2002 and February 2004, involved contracts with the phoney Anglo Leasing Company worth almost 100 million dollars.

The SFO office was probing offshore accounts in Jersey and Guernsey as part of the fraud, which saw payments made for passport equipment and supplies for the Kenyan police that were never delivered.

The SFO, in a statement on its website, said it had received evidence from Spain, France and Switzerland, but Kenya had failed to do its part.

"The Director of the SFO has exercised his discretion to terminate the investigation as there is currently no reasonable prospect of conviction without the evidence from Kenya," the SFO statement read.

However, it added it would re-open the investigation if Kenya delivered evidence in the future.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki came to power on an anti-corruption platform, but scandals have continued to pile up with nobody being brought to book.

Mwalimu Mati, the head of anti-corruption watchdog Mars Group Kenya, told the BBC that the government was trying to cover up the scandal and had no interest in ending corruption.

"The government has now declared that it truly is not interested in fighting corruption and indeed is engaging now on a daily basis in corruption scandals which ultimately may dwarf Anglo Leasing," he said. (dpa)