Lawyer in Ridgeways Inn case ‘threatened’
What you need to know:
- He says he was hired by businessman Daniel Kimani Kariuki to change the directors of Bebadis Company Ltd, now at the centre of an ownership row.
- He has asked the DCI to track his phone locations and those of Mr Kariuki, Ms Karanja, Ms Maigua on August 30 to confirm the Bebadis board met at Ridgeways.
A lawyer who acted for a couple engaged in a fight over popular Kiambu Road club, Ridgeways Inn — The Yard, has written to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), asking for protection.
Mr David Kimani Kinyanjui says people claiming to be from the DCI and the Director of Public Prosecutions office have threatened him with unspecified consequences, unless he agrees to be a State witness.
OWNERSHIP
He says he was hired by businessman Daniel Kimani Kariuki to change the directors of Bebadis Company Ltd, now at the centre of an ownership row.
Mr Kinyanjui says he has been retained by the couple since last year, and that Mr Kariuki asked him to change the directors of the company co-owned with his fiancée, Sylvia Wamboi Karanja.
TRANSFER
The changes in Bebadis’ directors saw Mr Kariuki and his niece, Ms Ruth Maigua, transfer all their shares to Ms Karanja. Shortly thereafter, Mr Kariuki and Ms Karanja broke up.
They used Bebadis for mobile money payments and bank transfers.
Mr Kariuki has since sued Ms Karanja, claiming that she forged documents to transfer the company's ownership to herself. He is the second plaintiff, while Bebadis is the first.
OBJECTION
But she has filed an objection, arguing that she is the company's sole director, and has not given it authority to move to court.
Ms Karanja was arrested in Eldoret on November 2, before being transferred to Kinangop, where she was charged with forgery.
Another lawyer, Mr Paul Njihia Njoroge, filed a complaint with police in Kinangop, which led to the former Miss Tourism Nairobi’s arrest. Mr Njoroge said that his stamp was forged on the transfer documents and the minutes of Bebadis’ board of directors’ meeting.
E-CITIZEN
Magistrate Georgina Okapasi released Ms Karanja on a Sh1 million bond, with a surety of a similar amount.
Mr Kinyanjui now says that, because of changes in the law, the directors of a company can be changed only on the government’s e-Citizen system, which he did on Mr Kariuki's instructions.
In his letter to the DCI, Mr Kinyanjui says Mr Kariuki asked him to make the changes on August 29 to enable Bebadis to get a bank loan.
AUTHORISED
"Mr Kariuki had, before making the said changes, informed me that he had issues with the Credit Reference Bureau and since the company could not access a loan owing to the challenge above, he authorised his removal,” Mr Kinyanjui says.
He has asked the DCI to track his phone locations and those of Mr Kariuki, Ms Karanja, Ms Maigua on August 30 to confirm the Bebadis board met at Ridgeways.
