DPP drops charges against men who tried to defraud Saudi prince

Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz delivers a speech at the Royal Palace in Mecca on September 24, 2015. The Director of Public Prosecutions has dropped criminal charges against two Kenyans accused of attempting to defraud a Saudi prince, Sultan Bin Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The DPP said the pair forged the signature of Mr Hassan Babakar Osman, a representative of Prince Sultan Bin Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.
    The Saudi royal, through Arafco Agricultural Integration Company, wanted to invest in farming.
    The company leased 100,000 acres belonging to the Agricultural Development Corporation in Galana, Kilifi County.
    The shares were transferred to Milstone Developers Ltd, where the two are majority shareholders.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has dropped criminal charges against two Kenyans accused of attempting to defraud a Saudi prince.
In August 2016, deputy DPP Nicholas Mutuku said the evidence against Mr Nuh Mohamed Abdulwahab and Mr Robinson Kigen was insufficient and told the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to institute charges of conspiracy to defraud, procuring and executing of documents without authority and obtaining registration of a company membership illegally.
The DPP said the pair forged the signature of Mr Hassan Babakar Osman, a representative of Prince Sultan Bin Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.

FARMING
According to the prosecution, they used the forged documents to transfer the prince's shares to a third party in 2015.
The Saudi royal, through Arafco Agricultural Integration Company, wanted to invest in farming. The Prince owns 90 per cent shares of the firm while while the rest belong to his Kenyan partners.
The company leased 100,000 acres belonging to the Agricultural Development Corporation in Galana, Kilifi County.
The shares were transferred to Milstone Developers Ltd, where the two are majority shareholders.
The two later moved to the High Court and the criminal charges were put on hold.

INVESTIGATIONS
“We have perused the file and evidence contained therein and are satisfied that the matter is civil. We are therefore of the view that any precipitate action in relation to criminal investigations against suspects Mohamed Abdulwahab and Robinson Kigen should be put on hold pending outcome of ELC civil suit,” Mr Mutuku said in the letter dated March 29, 2018.
Prince Sultan Bin Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to develop an oil refinery in Kenya apart from the Galana food project.
The Galana project will include a sugar farm, dairy farm and horticulture at a cost of $330 million (approximately Sh33 billion).
In October 2016, Mr Osman was arrested on suspicion of being an ISIS financier and sympathiser but the state withdrew the charges in July last year.