Employees at Standard Group were on Thursday morning left baffled after goons raided their Mombasa-Road based offices in a bid to cart away office items allegedly for auction.

The goons armed with crude weapons were repulsed from the offices by irked, weary and panicky employees who were busy at work when the youth struck some minutes to 10am.

It remains unclear how the goons gained access to the tightly secured premises usually manned by tens of security guards who check job and ID cards for anyone gaining entry.

It is also curious that the goons were able to gain access the premises and cause havoc without presenting their court papers permitting them to execute any auction orders.

A number of Standard Group Limited who spoke to Swala Nyeti on condition of anonymity revealed that this is the third time they have been attacked by armed goons at end month.

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They are questioning why the attacks only come when they are about to be paid coming amid ginormous financial challenges that have rocked the media house for the past year.

Sources have also disclosed to Swala Nyeti that some staff members have been colluding with the alleged auctioneers to alert them whenever a company car exits the compound.

Such informers are then said to receive Sh5,000 each for their information if it leads to the impounding of any such company vehicle to help recover the undisclosed debt accrued.

This comes more than a month after Standard Group announced a Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) program for its employees, amid fears of fresh retrenchments.

In a memo to the employees on October 5, 2023, Acting Group CEO Joe Munene said the VER program was part of the firm’s ongoing efforts to adapt to changing business needs.

This comes two months after the beset media house said it would lay off workers impacting staff across various departments after the firm posted Sh147 million pre-tax loss in H1 2023.

The media house linked to the Gideon Moi and Joshua Kulei families has faced challenges meeting its salary as well as statutory and SACCO deduction obligations since late 2022 amid allegations of financial imprompriety.