Four Officials of a Nairobi-Based Self-help Group Charged over Sh1 Billion Land Fraud

Four officials of a Nairobi-based self-help group were on Friday arraigned in court over alleged involvement in a Sh1 billion land fraud.

The four suspects were identified as former Kayole chief Alexander Hoops, Patrobas Awino, Peter Gitau, and Peter Njoroge.

They were arrested after both Sowesava Self-Help Group and Gidjoy Company Limited filed complaints at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Land Fraud Investigations Unit.

Appearing before Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku at Milimani Law Courts, the four were charged with forging the title deed of the Donholm Estate parcel of land, its lease, and an allotment letter.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on a Sh2 million bond or a cash bail of Sh1 million each.

In a statement on Sunday, the DCI said investigations revealed that by 2019, Gidjoy Company Limited purchased the parcel from Continental Limited then legally transferred the ownership to its name.

But Sowesava officials insisted that Continental Limited surrendered the property to the Nairobi County government, upon which they (Sowesava) were issued with an allotment letter and title deed.

The self-help group then illegally subdivided the parcel into 100 portions which they were in the process of selling to unsuspecting members of the public.

 “Meticulous investigations revealed that both the allotment letter and the mother title deed presented by Sowesava had been forged,” DCI noted.