Honey Khatwani before the milimani magistrate courtA Nairobi-based Indian businessman charged with
stealing Sh356 million from a company where he worked as a director threatened
staff and confiscated their passports during his tenure at the helm of the
firm, a court heard on Wednesday.
Witness Jatin Aswani told Milimani senior principal magistrate Dolphina Alego that Honey Katwani took away his passport and threatened him while he was employed at Oki General Trading Limited in Nairobi’s Baba Dogo area.
“I reported that matter to police but nothing was done,” Aswani said.
His testimony by another witness Karan Baldani who said Khatwani routinely intimidated employees and seized their travel documents. Baldani said at least three complaints had been lodged with police and OB numbers issued.
The two witnesses were testifying in a case where Katwani is charged with defrauding Oki Genrela Trading Limited of Sh356 million during his tenure as director.
The witnesses said the funds allegedly stolen were squandered on gambling, eventually crippling the company’s operations.
Two weeks ago, new company director Deepak Rajoria told the court that Khatwani used the funds to start his own company called Galaxy Middle East Limited.
On Wednesday, Baldani said Khatwani established a third company using the said funds. He claimed that the funds were transferred from Galaxy to the third pseudo company.
Khatwani was in June charged with stealing Sh356 million from Oki General Trading Limited, where he worked as a director.
In his testimony, Rajoria said Khatwani misappropriated company funds and used the proceeds to build his own company.
Khatwani had served as a director of the Baba Dogo-based company until he formally resigned on July 15, 2024. Rajoria said before his resignation, Khatwani had transferred all his shares at the company.
Rajoria was an employee of the company’s main outlet in Dubai until December 2024, when he was moved to Kenya and appointed director in January.
Upon his appointment as director, he commissioned a forensic audit of the company’s financial operations and accounts after he found funds were missing.
“The audit unearthed massive misappropriation, including fake invoices and company funds being deposited into the accused personal account,” Rajoria said.
He told the court that Khatwani, using his position then as company director, had instructed other employees to make deposits not to the company accounts but to his personal account.
“He was receiving company funds in his own account. From there, the funds were sometimes sent to an M-Pesa number belonging to his wife,” Rajoria said.
The witness said Khatwani used the funds to start his own company called Galaxy Middle East Limited, which he co-founded with another former employee of Oki General Trading Limited.
The company was started sometime in 2022 when Khatwani was still working as a director at Oki General Trading Limited.
“As a director, he had access to company money and all documents of authority from which he made fake invoices. We found that money was being fraudulently transferred to his own personal account, Galaxy account and M-Pesa account,” Rajoria said.
Khatwani was on June 23, charged with stealing Sh356 million from Oki General Trading Limited, where he worked as a director.
He pleaded not guilty to the theft and was released on a Sh5 million bond. Hearing proceeds tomorrow.
