Businessman acquitted of forgery charges

A Mombasa court has acquitted a businessman of forgery charges in a property battle with his sister after forensic experts failed to testify.

Mr Noor Mohamed had been accused of forging her sister’s (Zahara Pote) signature to acquire her property worth Sh100 million.

While acquitting the suspect, Chief Magistrate Julius Nang’ea observed that failure by the prosecution to present forensic experts to testify punctured the State’s case.

The magistrate said in the absence of the forensic experts, the charge of forgery could not be proved, and consequently, the evidence available was inadequate to place the suspect on his defence.

“The suspect is hereby acquitted of the charge under section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” the magistrate ruled.

KADHIS COURT
But Ms Pote and her husband Mark Pote have vowed to seek the help of Director of Public Prosecution to review the matter.

The prosecution said in 2009 the suspect altered titles to three of Ms Pote’s properties that eventually reflected the name of their deceased mother as the sole owner.

After the passing away of their mother, the suspect sought the help of Kadhis Court, which ordered they divide the property.

Mr Mohamed got a two-third while Ms Pote was entitled to one-third.

Forensic document examiner Martin Kitavi concluded that the signature that gave Mohamed the lion’s share of the property was not Ms Pote’s.

“In my opinion, the signatures were made by different authors,” he said.