The Director of Public Prosecutions has declared that a will leaving property to Kenyan charities is a forgery.
As a result, the Kenyan Wildlife Service and Kenya Forest Service among others stand to lose hundreds of millions of shillings.
Roger Bryan Robson, a single man aged 71 years, died on 8 August, 2012.
He lived at his Karen house until he died. He had made a will in 1997 leaving his estate to relatives and charitable organisations in Kenya involved with environment, wildlife, health and education.
The principal assets of Robson's estate were a 5.2 acre property on Ushirika road in Karen and a 1/2 acre plot with flats next to Nairobi Hospital in Upper Hill, together worth at least Sh500 million.
Since Robson's death, the Karen property has been occupied multiple times by invaders, including by the singer Ringtone.
The Upper Hill property has also been illegally occupied and the Pittaway block of flats there was demolished over Christmas 2015.
The executor of Robson's will is Kenyan lawyer Guy Elms who drew up the will when he was working at Archer and Wilcock in 1997. Elms is determined to execute Robson's wishes.
"The sad thing is that Roger loved this country like mad and that is why he wanted to give something back to it," Elms told the Star this week.
"And why would I forge a will where I am not even a beneficiary?," Elms asked.
Elms has fought extensive legal battles over the last five years to prevent the fraudulent takeover of the properties.
So far all the suits claiming ownership of the two properties have stalled in the civil courts. Both the properties are still occupied by squatters.
Now that the civil cases have stalled , the criminal courts have been dragged in to invalidating Robson's will.
The CID has made several attempts to forcibly take Elms away in an unmarked car even after the High Court ruled on 18 November that the DPP and CID should refrain from harassing him until the court has reviewed the proposed charges of forgery.
On November 2, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Mutuku wrote to the Director of CID that there was a prima facie case against Elms and instructed that he should be charged with forgery of Robson's will and power of attorney subject to CID obtaining statements from three key witnesses..
In a supporting affidavit, Inspector Emmanuel Kanyungu of CID curiously said that the investigation was prompted by an anonymous letter received in April 2014 saying Elms had forged Robson's will.
"I have no personal interest whatsoever in the assets of the estate. I am merely an executor and not a beneficiary," Elms wrote in a letter of complaint to the Inspector General of Police on 18 November.
The letter complained that the police had colluded in the grabbing of the properties.
"I have been informed by numerous sources that a powerful land grabbing cartel with the assistance of government agencies are involved in the illegal grabbing of the properties for their financial gain," he wrote.
Elms requested the assistance of the IGP so that "I can complete my duties as the Executor of the Will and gift the properties to the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Kenya Forestry Service".
Another lawyer familiar with the case said that he believed a senior police officer was now the driving force behind the attempted takeover of the Karen and Upper Hill properties from the Robson estate.
There have been multiple attempts to grab Robson's properties, starting as he grew older and infirm.
The first attempt came while he was still alive in 2011 when Nairobi Council said he had not been paying his land rates and tried to seize his property.
Elms filed a defence showing that the rates were legally paid to Karen Langata District Association and were up to date. That case remains in abeyance.
Then in 2011, while Robson was still alive, Leonard Omwenga, Meshack Obae and Sammy Lotasa claimed that they had owned the property since 1995. No proceedings were served on Robson who only learned of the case when he saw an advertisement for substituted service in the Nation.
Again Elms filed a defence and the case remains in limbo.
The next land grab came in April 2013 when security guards took over the property under the instructions of one Peter Weru who had a fake 1994 conveyance (transfer) and 2013 search saying that the Karen property had been bought by Francis Odinga Waluchio.
Another part of the Karen property was allegedly bought by a Friedrich Peitz even though the two titles and the property are indivisible.
In his court defense, Elms said that there were multiple forged signatures, forged documents and inconsistencies in the Waluchio and Peitz documents. The cases are still pending in court.
The final land grab began on 6 June, 2014 when a group of men including singer Ringtone invaded the property and broke into the house.
In December 2014 the property was taken over by Agness Kagure Karuiki in the company of former Kamukunji MP Simon Mbugua.
Agnes used conveyance dated 18 November, 2011 but it was only lodged with the Land Registry in 20 September, 2014, two years after Robson had died.
The sale price of the property was Sh100 million, allegedly paid in three cash instalments for which Kariuki provided handwritten receipts from Robson. However the price corresponds to Sh19 million per acre, well below the Sh30 million per acre value for Karen land in 2011.
Another inconsistency was that the photo of Robson on the conveyance showed him as a young man in the 1960s and not as an elderly man at the time of the alleged sale.
In his November letter the DPP declared that the signatures of Agness Kariuki on the conveyance for the Karen property were genuine and the signatures of Robson and Elms on the 1997 will and Power of Attorney were forgeries.
However these documents were not signed by Elms.
However Elms instead said that he had forensic handwriting analysis that showed that Robson's signature on the conveyance with Agnes Kariuki was forged.
Moreover in an affidavit in 2011, therefore after the purported sale to Agness, Robson clearly stated that " I have no intention of selling the property neither have I invited any bids.”
Robson's Upper Hill property was owned through a company called Plovers’ Haunt, originally set up by his parents. Goons invaded the property on Ralph Bunche Road in 2015 after Thomas Murima Mutaha and Peter Gaitho Wallace claimed to be the directors of the company.
However at that time, while acting as executor of Robson's estate, Elms became a director of Plovers’ Haunt.
The company records are complete and date back to 1947.
The Upper Hill property is still illegally occupied and therefore cannot be sold for the benefit of KWS, KFS or other Kenyan charities.