Detectives from the land fraud investigation unit at the DCI have moved to tame a wave of Kisumu land fraud where unsuspecting buyers are duped into purchasing non-existent parcels.
The officers conducted a dawn raid at the home of self-declared China squad head Peter Ochieng Okore where they recovered a cache of title deeds illegally in his possession.
Armed with a warrant of arrest obtained from Milimani law courts, the sleuths led by chief inspector Luka Kiptoo combed and recovered what the officers said were fraudulent titles.
Also recovered during the raid were equipment that included rubber stamps bearing the land registry logos as well as land registrar's personal stamps.
The officers also recovered stamps of dead advocates believed to be used by the suspect to attest to transfer documents.
Ochieng, also known as ‘Peter Maroon’ was arrested by the sleuths who studied his operations before cornering him alongside his wife Millicent Akinyi.
The duo was charged before Kisumu chief magistrate Julius Ng’ang’a on May 27 and was released on a Sh500,000 bond each with a surety of similar amount.
Court documents seen by the Star indicate that the couple was charged with among others, forging title to land parcel Ref: East Kisumu Mukendwa /30 belonging to businessman Maxwell Otieno Odongo .
The parcel has a market value of Sh 40 million.
They are also accused of forgery in a separate parcel said to belong to Manmohan Singh Chawla and valued at Sh50 million
According to the suit papers, the two successfully inserted false records (green cards) into the Ministry of Lands official records at Kisumu.
Residents who sought anonymity said the cartels also target parcels of land whose owners are dead or far away.
The land fraud ring is alleged to be so connected to the point of pocketing some police officers in Kisumu, a senior government official disclosed.
This prompted the DCI to send officers straight from Nairobi to investigate the irregular land dealings.
The DCI on May 30 wrote to the PS for Lands requesting a restriction on 21 parcels under investigating in Kisumu.
In a petition dated April 20 to Nyanza regional police boss Vincent Makhoha, Kisumu residents demanded action against land cartels.
They claimed two "untouchable" fraudsters were released from a police station in unclear circumstances.
The two are said to have received a total of Sh12 million from unsuspecting buyers among them a pilot, for non-existent parcel of land in neighbouring Homa Bay.
Through Kisumu city residents' voice chairman Audi Ogada, they said the suspects were arrested by civilians and taken to the police station.
“Surprisingly, the two were immediately released and the civilians who made arrest were the ones locked in and booked for abduction," Ogada said.
(edited by O. Owino)
