Three children of former Attorney General James Karugu are now staring at serious fraud charges after they were accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to unlawfully transfer company shares.
James Karugu was Kenya’s second Attorney General, serving between 1980–1981. He was also a lawyer trained in the U.S. and London.
The siblings appeared before Milimani Law Courts facing multiple charges including conspiracy to defraud, forgery, and giving false information to investigators.
Court documents reveal the alleged scheme dates back to May 2012.
The prosecution claims the three conspired to defraud a family member of her shares by transferring one ordinary share from Madara Holdings Limited to Centurion Holdings Limited.
"On or about the second day of May 2012, at an unknown place in the Republic of Kenya, jointly conspired to defraud Victoria Nyambura Karugu of her shares," the court heard during the reading of the charges.
The accused also face forgery charges for allegedly creating a fake share transfer form purporting to be from a family member.
One count alleges that "on unknown date in the year of 2012 within the Republic of Kenya, with intent to deceive, forged a share transfer form purporting to be a genuine share transfer form of Victoria Nyambura Karugu."
All three pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors also allege that two of the siblings misled Inspector Peter Ouma at the DCI headquarters in February 2025, with all three accused pleading not-guilty to the charges.
Chief Magistrate presiding over the case released them on a Ksh1.5 million bond or Ksh 700,000 cash bail each.
The court further directed them to surrender their passports to be held by the court pending the case.
The case is set for mention on January 20, 2026, for pre-trial directions before the same court.
