Fight for Sh700m Yogesh Sapra estate rages

Nisha Sapra, wife of slain Nairobi businessman Yogesh Sapra. She has been charged with the murder. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Dr Nisha Sapra accused her two brothers-in-law, Kuldip Madan Sapra and Ashman Madan Sapra, of attempting to defraud her.
  • The two brothers had told justice Muchelule that each of them owns a third of the family estate.

The row over a multimillion shilling estate left by slain Nairobi businessman Yogesh Sapra has taken a new twist after the court was told that his wife cannot legally inherit the property.

The case will test the "slayer rule", which prohibits murderers from profiting from their crimes.

Nairobi dentist Nisha Sapra is has been charged for her husband's murder but cannot apply to be the administrator of the estate until the criminal matter is resolved.

Dr Sapra has denied the charge and is out on bond.

In the law of succession, anyone facing a murder or manslaughter charge cannot be allowed to inherit the estate of the person he or she is accused of killing.

INVESTMENT

Before he was killed on the night of August 21, 2005 in Nairobi’s Spring Valley estate, Mr Sapra had built a Sh700 million estate that included a house in Lower Kabete (Nairobi) and Brookside Gardens, an apartment in Nyali estate, Mombasa, and held shares at Kenya Airways.

Other investments included Mt Kenya Sundries Retail Shop at Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, shares in Maya Duty Free Shops at JKIA, Sapra Investment Limited, and Green Gems Limited all valued at Sh700 million.

Dr Nisha Sapra accused her two brothers-in-law, Kuldip Madan Sapra and Ashman Madan Sapra, of attempting to defraud her of her late husband’s estate.

INHERITANCE
A police officer investigating the case, Festo Wamwayi, told chief magistrate Francis Andayi that Dr Sapra cannot apply for letters of administration due to the pending criminal case.

The police officer told the chief magistrate that Dr Sapra had admitted in an affidavit she filed before justice Aggrey Muchelule in 2011 that she can’t inherit the property.

“Currently I am facing a criminal charge under criminal case Number 523 of 2008. That is the reason I have not endeavoured to make my application for letters of administration,” she had said in her affidavit.

The two brothers had told justice Muchelule that each of them owns a third of the family estate.

They now say that their sister-in-law sued them over forgery in order to sabotage the succession case in which justice Muchelule appointed them as joint administrators after Dr Sapra failed to file an objection.

The hearing resumes on February 26.