A 91-year-old city lawyer accused of defrauding his client over Ksh63.7 million in a land transaction deal will now be under 24-hour police watch, a Nairobi court has ordered.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo issued the directive to have the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers watch lawyer Mohammed Akram Khan who is currently alleged to be admitted at MP Shah Hospital after he failed to appear in court for plea-taking in relation to fraud allegations.
The magistrate also directed that Khan be examined by a government doctor at Kenyatta National Hospital and a report be availed in court on Friday, October 28.
The decision by the court comes after Khan lawyer informed the court that his client skipped the proceedings as he is ailing and admitted to the hospital.
"The accused is sick and hospitalized which is why he failed to appear in court for plea taking. l request the court to defer plea taking for a period of two months," Khan's lawyer told the court.
But the late complainant Sukhdev Sign Mangat wife, through lawyer Ekuro Aukot, vehemently opposed the request by the accused to differ the plea taking saying he is evading to appear in court and face the full force of the law after failing to pay the disputed amount.
Aukot argued that the court should issue a warrant of arrest against the accused or have him put in a facility where he will be under police watch as he might escape the country. Khan is said to be a dual citizen, Kenyan, and British.
"I pray for a warrant of arrest and plea taken even if it's in the hospital bed," said Aukot.
Lawyer blacklisted by LSK
The lawyer further revealed to the court that Khan who defrauded his client on land worth millions of shilling has since been barred by the Law Society of Kenya from practicing.
According to the charge sheet filed in court, Lawyer Khan is charged alongside his law firm, M.A Khan Advocates, for defrauding Mangat Ksh63.7 million in the land he had been entrusted to sell on diverse dates between 4, 2013 and September 16, 2014.
The land dispute was first handled by the LSK dispute tribunal where parties were trying to settle the matter but the same failed.
LSK tribunal found Khan guilty.
On May 9 last year, the tribunal, however, compelled Khan to pay his client funds within 90 days which he has failed to do to date.
