This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
On August 29, 2019, two Migori-based advocates, Kerario Marwa and Samuel Odingo, appeared before Kisii Principal Magistrate Ezekiel Obina, facing charges of fraud and forgery.
The two were linked to the forgery and uttering of false documents used to pay non-existing farmers at the troubled Sony Sugar Company, potentially leading to a loss of over Sh500, 000.
According to the charges, Kerario and Odingo allegedly committed the offenses between November 2, 2015, and June 21, 2018, within Migori County.
On May 17, 2018, Odingo is alleged to have made a verifying affidavit in case number 272/2018, bearing the name Elisha Ouma Opondo, a judicial document purporting to be what it was not.
On October 6, 2015, Odingo is also alleged to have knowingly and fraudulently uttered a forged plaintiff statement number 2392/2015 and a verifying affidavit purporting it had been filled by Francis Okomo.
The two denied the charges and were released on a Sh50, 000 cash bail or Sh100, 000 bond with a surety of a similar amount.
Investigations by the Director of Criminal Investigations and Advanced Forensics Limited revealed that fraudsters had been altering contracts of unsuspecting farmers to file cases in Rongo, Migori, Homa Bay, Kisii, and Kehancha.
As a result, the then Sony Sugar Managing Director Bernard Otieno formed a special team to audit several suspicious cases filed against the company in April 2019.
According to Otieno, about 1,000 cases were terminated after they established the farmers were not even aware they had been filed.
"This is after we established that the farmers’ documents had been forged and that they were not aware of the lawsuits,” said Otieno.
The case will be mentioned on September 12, 2019.
