Five family members in Sh128m fraud case fail to appear in court

A file photo of Commercial Bank of Africa on Moi Avenue in Mombasa town. /ELKANA JACOB
A file photo of Commercial Bank of Africa on Moi Avenue in Mombasa town. /ELKANA JACOB

Five family members accused of conspiring to defraud Commercial Bank of Africa of over Sh128.8 million have been ordered to appear in court.

Milimani senior principal magistrate Joyce Gandani directed the five to be arraigned after they failed to appear on Wednesday as earlier directed.

Gladys Kangethe, Patrick Njuguna, Edward Kangethe, Margaret Wambui and George Kangethe are accused of defrauding the bank using a fake title deed.

The five, who run a mortgage business, have not yet pleaded to several fraud charges against them.

They moved to the High Court seeking temporary orders to stop the DPP from arresting and arraigning them.

More on this:

This is after co-accused Margaret was arrested at JKIA while allegedly trying to flee the country.

Margaret pleaded not guilty and is out on a cash bail of Sh500,000.

Among the charges they face is the intent to induce the mortgagee CBA to accept a forged title deed in the names of Wardpa Holdings as security for a loan worth Sh100 million.

They are also accused of inducing CBA to accept another fake title deed registered in the names of Ndonga Limited as security for another loan of Sh28.8 million.

The offences are said to have been committed between March 2012 and February 2014.

The five are charged alongside the two companies and Stephen Mwaura, who were present in court on Wednesday.

WATCH: The latest videos from the Star