• She claimed to be the widow of businessman who did in the US in 2013
• City lawyer disowns the documents presented in court as forgeries
Image: FILE
A retired primary school teacher was on Friday charged with fraudulently transferring a dead businessman’s rental houses in Umoja to herself, claiming to be his widow.
Margaret Wangari Kamande, 59, denied she forged the sale and transfer documents which she purported to have been prepared by a city lawyer.
The forgery is said to have happened on unknown dates in 2007.
The documents indicated that Kamande acquired the property from Johnson Miringu Kagondu in 2007 through a sale agreement drawn by lawyer Julius Ndichu Kihanya.
The retired teacher told Milimani senior principal magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot that she was ailing and sought lenient bond or bail terms.
Kagondu died in the US in 2013. The following year, his son, Lemmy Gitau, learned that Kamande was collecting rent from his father’s tenants and returned to Kenya to sort out the matter.
Kamande had given tenants new bank account numbers in which they deposited the rent. Some were suspicious and contacted Gitau.
When the area chiefs intervened, Kamande presented documents to prove that she was the owner of the houses.
She allegedly used the forged sale agreement at the Dandora Housing Development, showing that Kagondu had transferred his property to her.
Meanwhile, Gitau sought out the company which sold the property to his father in 1976 and was told that Kamande had laid claim of the property and had it transferred to her.
The company had subsequently updated its records pertaining to the property.
Investigations showed that Kamande had fraudulently transferred the property to herself.
She is also charged with meddling with Kagondu's estate on October 26, 2007.
She had claimed to be his wife and that there is a succession case pending in a Murang’a court.
The Land Fraud Investigations Unit of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations found that the sale agreement purported to have been prepared by lawyer Kihanya were forged.
Kihanya has since disowned them. The DCI has listed him as a prosecution witness.
Kamande was freed on a Sh500,000 bond and a similar surety. Alternatively, she can post a Sh300,000 bail.
The case will be mentioned on August 30.