A Kenyan court permitted the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to modify charges against four executives linked to a 2008 oil scandal involving Sh1.2 billion in misappropriated fuel shipments.
The case centers on Triton Petroleum Company Limited and Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) officials accused of diverting petroleum products without consent from KCB Group, a commercial bank that had provided a Sh1.2 billion loan to Triton for oil imports.
Senior Principal Magistrate Kennedy Cheruiyot granted the DPP authority to amend charges filed a decade earlier against Triton managing director Yagnesh Mohanlal Devani, who remains in Britain, and four other defendants: Julius Kilonzo, Collins Otieno, Mahendra Pathak, and Benedict Mutua.
The magistrate cited legal provisions allowing charge amendments before judgment, noting the case began in 2008 and aiming to conclude by June 2019. He ordered remaining witnesses to testify between March 19-21, 2019, as the trial resumes.
Charges include theft of 318,656 metric tonnes of jet fuel valued at Sh36.5 million, 2,634,687 tonnes of automobile gas oil worth Sh284.5 million, and 12,782 tonnes of another fuel type valued at Sh799.9 million—all allegedly stolen from KCB’s assets between April and September 2008.
Defendants deny allegations of fraudulent disposal of oil products, claiming they acted within their roles. The case highlights systemic financial misconduct in corporate and state-linked entities during the 2008 period.
