Royal Media Services (RMS) Chairperson S.K. Macharia can sigh with relief after the High Court issued an order curtailing any search at Royal Media Services until October 30 when a case involving Directline Insurance is heard and determined.
In a court petition, S.K. Macharia wanted the court to recall the order that had allowed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to do a search in his company following a case with the Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) over the dissolution of Directline Insurance.
The billionaire stated that the court did not give him time to defend himself and as such, it did not get the true state of affairs before issuing the orders.
According to court documents, Macharia stressed that Terry Wanjiku Kiarie is not a shareholder and therefore cannot speak on behalf of shareholders of Directline Company Limited.
Through his lawyer Danstan Omari, Macharia maintained that since he is the legal shareholder of the Directline, he had the capacity to dissolve the company which controls 70 per cent of the public service insurance sector.
The DCI had moved to court seeking to repossess three vehicles owned by the media baron. Additionally, the agency wanted to search for documents at RMS that would help in the case.
Omari stated that there was no confusion in the case that was presented to the Court because Royal Media Services and Royal Media Credit are two distinct companies, both of which Macharia was the chairman.
Earlier, Macharia had gone to the Milimani Law Courts seeking to be reinstated together with his wife as the rightful owners of the Directline Company.
In the petition, SK Macharia demanded accountability for the Ksh8 billion in premiums swindled from policyholders.
Through his lawyers, the media baron argued that the original CR12 had been altered and shares of rightful owners reallocated. A CR12 is a legal or Certificate issued by the registrar of companies indicating the details and the directors and shareholders of a company
Directline then decided to close the shop on September 10, 2024, halting all insurance operations. In a statement, the company communicated that the shareholders of the company had resolved to cease issuing insurance policies.
Further, the Association of Kenya Insurance Companies (AKI) was duly instructed to cease issuing insurance certificates or stickers in the name of Directline Assurance Company Limited from September 10.
