Sh700m land case: Malindi court frees six people on bond

From left: Saburi Shebani, Juma Hassan, Juma Omar, Musa Hassan, Abbakar Omar and Ramadhan Idd who face land fraud charges in a Malindi court on October 18, 2018. PHOTO | CHARLES LWANGA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The accused have denied defrauding the family of Malindi businessmen Salim and Ali Bakhshuwein
  • They are accused of uttering false documents and false swearing
  • Their lawyer pleaded with the court to give them reasonable bond terms

Six people accused of forging documents to defraud a family of two parcels of land valued at about Sh700 million were yesterday released on a Sh20 million bond each with two sureties of a similar amount.

Malindi Chief Magistrate Julie Oseko said the bond amount was based on the value of the land stated in the charge sheet.

Dr Oseko delivered the ruling on bond after the probation officer presented his report on the lifestyle audit of the accused - Ramadhan Idd, Abbakar Omar, Musa Hassan, Juma Omar, Juma Hassan and Saburi Shebani.

HUMBLE LIFE

In the report, the probation officer stated that the accused were living a humble life. “I have looked at the probation report and the offence and found out that the accused are not a flight risk,” said Dr Oseko.

The accused have denied eight charges of defrauding the family of Malindi businessmen Salim and Ali Bakhshuwein of land worth Sh700,000, uttering false documents and false swearing.

They fraud offences involving land at Furunzi in Malindi is said to have been committed between February 2011 and September 11, 2012.

According to court documents, the plots - valued at Sh500 million and Sh240 million each - belong to the father of the complainants, the late Liwali Sheikh Bin Khaflan.

The lawyer of the accused, Mr Stephen Kimani, had pleaded with the court to give his clients reasonable bond terms, arguing that his clients were not a flight risk since they did not possess passports. “All the accused except one are above the age of 65 years and they were arrested at their homes,” he said.

The lawyer further said his clients were first arrested in March, but were released on a Sh60,000 police bond after they failed to be produced in court only being told they will be called back. “This is six months after the bond date and after we learnt of the warrant of arrest, which we were not served with, my clients surrendered before court and were arrested even after that gesture,” said Mr Kimani.

OLD AND SICKLY

He also said three of his clients are old and sickly and need special medical attention and detaining them will make their health worse.

Mr Idd and Mr Omar also faced a charge of falsely swearing themselves as the administrators of Mr Khaflan's property before lawyer Richard Otara in Malindi town on February 9, 2011. The two were also charged with giving false information to Mombasa deputy registrar Joyce Gandani, making her erroneously issue a gazette notice on April 20, 2011.

The Sh20 million bond ruling angered the families of the accused who were following the court proceedings.

Speaking to journalists outside the court premises, the angry family members said they are going to seek a bond review, adding that “the courts were being used by the Bakshuwein family to defeat justice".

“We had a case in the Mombasa courts and won, but they refused to appeal only for our husbands to be rearrested and brought here under fresh charges,” said Ms Umi Omar.

Ms Riziki Iddi Ali said the amount pronounced by the magistrate was way above their reach. “How shall we raise the money yet the land we could have used to secure their release is under investigation? We are tired of the judicial system in Kenya,” she said.