• Wow Beverages Limited says the DPP conspired with others to commit forgery.
• KCB declined to transfer bail money citing an order freezing Wow's account.
Image: FILE
A company associated with billionaire Humphrey Kariuki has accused the Director of Public Prosecutions of forging a court order causing its bank accounts to be frozen.
In a letter addressed to Milimani chief magistrate Francis Andayi, Wow Beverages Limited says the DPP conspired with others to commit forgery.
This was meant to prejudice the company and make it impossible for Wow and its directors to get funds for bail.
“The prosecution is ill-intended and the charges against us are not true. The DPP has always been aware that Wow is exclusively an importer, distributor of finished alcoholic products and that it has paid and declared all its taxes, a fact confirmed by a tax compliance certificate issued by KRA,” reads the letter.
On August 19, Kariuki, Stuart Gerald (director, Wow), Peter Njenga Kuria (director, Africa Spirits Ltd), Robert Thinji Murithi (director, Wow), Geofrey Kinoti (director, Africa Spirits) were charged with failing to pay tax.
They were all released on Sh22 million bond each with a surety of a similar amount or pay an alternative cash bail of Sh11 million each. They were given three days to comply. The accused were also required to deposit their passports with the court.
Wow in the letter claims that on August 20, it directed its banker KCB to immediately and urgently transfer Sh22 million to the Judiciary account within the time directed by the court.
However, KCB did not affect the transfer, forcing the MD to go to the bank at 3pm to inquire why.
“The bank citing fears of retribution by the DPP refused to provide any written reasons for failing to effect the transfer, but instead provided the MD with a copy of an order issued by a separate court, being Senior Resident Magistrate C. Muthoni, dated August 9 and served on the bank on August 14, 2019,” the letter says.
The August 9 order by magistrate Muthoni allowed the DPP to search buildings, ships, aircrafts, bank accounts or boxes belonging to Humphrey Kariuki, Wow and Africa Spirits.
The DPP was further authorised by the court to seize, restrain and freeze any property or title in respect of the search warrant. She also ordered that movable property seized and brought before the court be detained until the conclusion of the case or investigations.
Wow through Lawyer Benjamin Musyoki says upon perusal of the same order, it became clear that the DPP's three criminal cases against the company were in bad faith.
This is because they forged a court order and judicial record by extracting an order to search, freeze, seize and detain Wow bank accounts.
Wow claims the purpose of the DPP falsely assuming judicial authority by forging court orders that had expressly been denied by the court was to maliciously cause Wow not to comply with bail terms imposed by the court.