An advocate of the High Court has been arraigned before the Chiefs Magistrates’ Court at Kahawa to face charges of Forgery, Uttering Forged Documents, and Money Laundering.
In a statement on Friday, October 4, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said Stephen Juma Ndeda is linked to a series of offences committed on diverse dates in June 2020.
DCI noted that his arrest and subsequent arraignment in Court came after thorough investigations conducted by detectives after receiving an intelligence report on June 26, 2023.
"The investigations conducted by Detectives from the Financial Investigations Unit domiciled at the DCI Headquarters revealed that the advocate’s law firm Ndeda & Company received a total of USD 52,490,000 through wired transfers in the name of payment for the purchase of land," DCI said in the statement.
According to the investigating agency, the transaction relating to a 50-acre parcel of land in Kajiado County was supported by a sale agreement between Andrew Simiyu, the vendor, and Alguns Limited, the purchaser.
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DCI said the agreement stated that Ndeda & Company was acting on behalf of both the vendor and the purchaser and that the vendor had agreed to sell the property for a price of Ksh 60,000,000.
The initial Ksh 5,000,000 deposit was to be paid within 90 days, per the agreement.
However, DCI said investigations showed that the funds were sent by a different entity in the name of Algans Eood whose located address is in Sofia, Bulgaria.
"It was further established that Algun Limited is a company whose main business is arms trading a fact which led to suspicion of an international syndicate of money laundering and possible arms smuggling.
"Funds were wired to the advocate's Nairobi bank account, which was immediately reversed to the sender on account of non-compliance with the bank's internal policies and regulatory guidelines on money laundering and reporting of suspicious transactions," the statement added.
Additionally, DCI stated that it was established that the advocate forged the land sale agreement purporting it to have been signed by Simiyu who is the owner of the land.
Ndeda is said to have uttered in the bank as supporting documents to facilitate the illicit transfer of funds from foreign jurisdiction to Kenya.
However, Simiyu disputed signing nor knowledge of the sale agreement in question involving the intended sale of his parcel of land.
"Upon independent review of the case by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions he was in concurrence with the investigator's findings and recommendations and therefore directed Ndeda to be charged in court for Forgery, Uttering False Documents and Money Laundering," the statement further read.
Ndeda pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on bail terms of Ksh 1 million bond or cash bail of Ksh 200,000.
