- The court heard that while procuring the registration Mohamed, Adan, Kuroyow, Mutisya and Ibrahim pretended to be the bonafide owners of the said land.
- Court heard the accused procured registration of the land in their names.
Image: CAROLYNE KUBWA
Six businessmen have been charged with defrauding a farmer’s society of 452 hectares of land valued at Sh11 billion within Mavoko Machakos County.
However, Mohamed Kuroyow, Mohamed Salat Ibrahim, Omar Khalif Adan, Adow Ahmed Mohamed, Jeremiah Mutisya Paul and Joseph Njue who appeared before Milimani principal magistrate Rose Ndombi denied the fraud charges against them.
The six were accused of conspiring to defraud Drumvale Farmer’s Cooperative Society members of 452 hectares of land valued at Sh11bn.
The court heard the land is situated within Mavoko, Machakos.
Kuroyow, Ibrahim, Adan, Mohamed, Mutisya and Njue denied a charge of obtaining registration of the 452 hectares fraudulently on diverse dates between February September 13, 2018 and January 7, 2021.
They are alleged to have committed the fraud while in the company of others who are not before the court.
Court heard the accused procured registration of the land in their names.
The land is known as Mavoko Block 12 No.IR204303 LR.8529/7 (Originally 8529/1).
The court heard that while procuring the registration Mohamed, Adan, Kuroyow, Mutisya and Ibrahim pretended to be the bonafide owners of the said land.
The accused persons denied another count of hiving off 141 hectares from the 452 hectares of the said land and then registered it in the name of another company.
Ndombi heard the value of the 141 hectares is Sh3 billion.
The magistrate heard the claim the accused were bonafide the owners of the land was likely to trigger a breach of peace since they were not the genuine owners of the land in dispute.
The accused applied to be freed on bond and the prosecution did not oppose the bail plea.
All the accused were admitted to a bond of Sh10 million with one surety of the same amount each.
She also gave them an alternative bond of Sh5 million with one conduct person.
The magistrate directed the prosecution to furnish the accused with witness statements to prepare their defences.
The magistrate fixed the case for trial on May 30, 2024.
The prosecution stated that it will be consolidating the case with another pending against other suspects.
Defence lawyers opposed the prosecution's indication.
But the prosecutor said witnesses and exhibits in the two cases are the same and a consolidation will save the court precious time.