A Nairobi lawyer has lost his company years after allegedly defrauding a couple a sum of money amounting to Ksh17.4 million.
A report by Nation on Sunday, July 11, indicated that the lawyer had promised to sell the couple a parcel of land valued at Ksh33 million.
The couple comprised of Benson Maingi Mutahi and Hellen Wanjiku Mutahi had made the down payment to acquire the parcel measuring 0.196 acres of land located in Thome Estate, Nairobi County.
They reportedly made the payment between mid-May and November 2017 but they never received the title to the parcel.
The lawyer is reported to have tried to register the parcel in the name of the couple although the land belonged to Waithira Njoroge.
The court was told that he tried passing off a form reportedly signed by the owner of the land to the couple as the deed of transfer.
Milimani Principle Magistrate David Ngugi, after listening to the case, directed the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to wind up the law firm in which the accused was the sole proprietor.
The prosecutor of the case had also informed the court that the advocate had been deregistered by LSK and was no longer a certified lawyer.
He was arrested on Thursday, July 8.
While appearing in court, he pleaded not guilty to four counts of forgery and obtaining money through false pretense.
He also pleaded with the magistrate to release him on grounds that he was ill and needed frequent medication.
The judge, however, declined his request and ordered him to be detained at Kileleshwa Police Station and directed that he should not be accorded preferential treatment.
