A former anti-corruption investigator told a Kisumu court that the transfer of Miwani Sugar Company land valued at Sh2.3 billion was illegal.
Stanley Miriti, one of the officers who investigated the alleged fraud case involving former magistrate Abdulkadir Elkindy, said the Land Control Board consent used in the transfer was issued to two different entities.
Testifying before Kisumu Chief Magistrate Julius Ngarngar, Miriti said the consent document was linked to Crossley Limited Company and Agro Chemical Housing Cooperative. He told the court that the two copies he produced carried the same serial number.
“We visited Nyando district office where we were furnished with a book containing land application forms. The certificates of consent issued to the two companies were similar,” the former investigative officer said.
Miriti also said the minutes of the Land Control Board in Nyando district relating to the land may have been forged because there were two versions, one handwritten and the other typed.
In the case, Elkindy, Sukwinder Sigh Chatte, Ian Gakoi Mawa, Odongo Philips Katiba, Moses Nyaburo Osewe, Kefa Lumumba Atunga, Epainto Apono Okoyo and Crossley Holdings Limited are charged with conspiracy to defraud the company of its multibillion-shilling land.
Elkindy also faces an abuse of office charge. The prosecution says he used his position as deputy registrar to issue a notification claiming that the High Court had ordered the sale of the property.
The alleged offences are said to have been committed between 2007 and 2008.
Justice Ngarngar set January 25, 2019 for mention, when both sides are expected to file their final written submissions before further directions.
