Tob Cohen Family Barred From Accessing Late Tycoon's Wealth

Sarah Wairimu appeared in court on October 3, 2019.
Sarah Wairimu appeared in court on October 3, 2019.
Capital Group

High Court dealt a major blow to the family of the late Dutchman Tob Cohen after it temporarily stopped his relatives from accessing and distributing his estate.

Justice Mugure Thande ordered the estate of the late Cohen to remain unchanged until two contested Wills are resolved.

The judge suspended the grant that had been issued to Bernard and Gabriel Cohen taking control of the late Dutchman's estate after an application by his wife Sarah Wairimu challenging the same was allowed.

The succession case of the late business tycoon took a new twist after it emerged that there are two different Wills.

Gabriele Cohen, Dutch Tycoon's Sister
Former DCI boss, George Kinoti, consoles Gabriele Cohen, Tob Cohen's sister in September 2019.
Twitter

His estranged wife Sarah claims she has the original copy of the Will while Cohen's lawyer Chege Kirundi claims to have the original copy of the Will.

Justice Thande ordered Wairimu and lawyer Chege Kirundi to produce the two Wills in court. 

Wairimu, through lawyer Philip Murgor, claimed to have the original Will and termed the one with Cohen's lawyer as a fake. She further claimed that the alleged Will, dated April 30, 2019, and authored by Cohen, was a forgery and authorities had refused to investigate the matter.

Through her lawyer, Wairimu also alleged that the Will dated April 30, 2019, was aimed at blocking her from inheriting her late husband's multi-million estate.

Murgor told the court that they hired a document examiner who determined that the Will was forged and they reported the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for further investigations. 

The lawyer also informed the court that Wairimu was stopped from proceeding with her allocation for grant of representation by reason of lack of a Death Certificate.

Wairimu further accused Bernard of failure to present the original Will to the court as required under Rule 7(5) of the Probate and Administration Rules section 51(3) of the law of succession Act. She added that since the copy of the last Will of the deceased Bernard presented in court was not an authenticated copy.

In his replying affidavit to Wairimu’s application, Kirundi said he will not produce the Will in the succession case because it is an exhibit in the murder trial against Wairimu.

Kirundi further stated that he is mandated to give evidence at Wairimu’s murder trial with the Will in his possession.

Cohen’s family lawyer Shadrack Wambui also opposed the numerous applications by Wairimu arguing that she is misusing Cohen’s name in her court papers.  

The lawyer told the court that Wairimu should not use Cohen as her last name since she never used it during their marriage. She further argued that the Cohen family intended to file an application to strike out her applications for misrepresentation.

“Our application is intended to have the cases that have been filed by this fictitious person named Sarah Cohen struck out because there is nobody who is known by those names,” he stated.

Wambui argued that Wairimu's use of the Cohen name was meant to confuse the court and obstruct the mind of the court so that the court gives a lenient ruling.

Sarah Cohen visiting her husband's grave at the Jewish Cemetery on Thursday, January 30.
Sarah Cohen visits her husband's grave at the Jewish Cemetery on Thursday, January 30, 2020
Photo/ Crime Watchdog
  • . .