Two traders have been charged before a Nairobi court with defrauding a deceased person's land worth Ksh14 million located in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado county.
Lucy Wanjiru Njoroge and Zakariah Maina Ndibaru appeared before Milimani Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo and denied the charges of intermeddling with the estate of a deceased person, conspiracy to defraud, forgery, obtaining money by false pretenses leveled against them by the state.
Wanjiru and Maina are alleged to have committed the offence between August 12, 1977, and April 15, 2015.
In the case, Wanjiru alone faced six charges while his co-accused person Maina faces two counts.
The prosecution alleges that on or about April 15, 2015, at an unknown place in the Republic of Kenya, Wanjiru, and Maina without grant of representation or any other written law, intermeddled with the property of the deceased Joseph Kimani Kibui namely land parcel number Ngong/3205 located in Ongata Rongai measuring 0.1 hectares valued at Ksh 14 million by disposing of the same.
Forged land documents
Wanjiru also denied that she forged the signature on the transfer of the land dated August 24, 1999, purporting it to be a genuine signature and stamp impression of lawyer Chacha Odera and Company Advocates.
Further, Wanjiru faced charges of forging the signatures on the green card of the Land Registrars Grace Mumo Murage and Joseph Mulinge Munguti.
She was also charged that on diverse dates between December 11, 2020, and February 28, 2021, in Nairobi area within Nairobi County, obtained a total of Ksh3 million from Paul Wakanya Kamau by falsely pretending that she was in a position to sell him the land.
The businesswoman is further accused that on April 15, 2015, at an unknown place jointly with other not before the court made a false title deed of the land in her name purporting it to be a genuine one signed and issued by the lands registrar in Kajiado North.
After denying the charges, the defence counsel lawyers pleaded with the court to release them on very lenient bond terms stating that they were not a flight risk.
The prosecution on the other hand did not object to their release on bond but requested the court to issue a bond commensurate to the money involved in the fraud.
The magistrate ordered release of Wanjiru on a bond of Ksh2 million with an alternative cash bail of Ksh1 million stating that she faced various counts.
Maina was released on a bond of Ksh500,000 with an alternative cash bail of Ksh 100,000.
