Kenyan Man Serving 10-Year Prison Term in the US Loses Court Case in Kenya

Jeffrey Sila Ndungi, a Kenyan man currently serving a 10-year prison term in the United States has lost a court battle against MultiChoice Kenya.

Ndungi had filed an infringement of rights case against the Digital Television firm and the Copyright Board at the High Court. In a suit before Justice Chacha Mwita lodged in 2015, Ndungi was seeking damages from MultiChoice and the Copyright Board after they raided his house and confiscated equipment he was using to tap DStv signals for distribution to clients without a licence.

However, Justice Chacha Mwita has dismissed the case by Ndungi, who is being currently in a US prison for stealing $77,000 from federal authorities through issuance of a bad check electronically in 2012.

The 32-year-old was found culpable by a Texas court and was handed a 10-year jail term and a $250,000 fine for defrauding the US government.  

In defense, MultiChoice and the Copyright Board described Mr Ndungi as a shrewd con man, who had been practicing piracy in North and West Africa, apart from Kenya.

He had been charged at Milimani Magistrate’s Court with tapping into DStv signals and distributing the same without a licence. The criminal case is still pending. 

Ndungi is also accused of committing a similar offence in Nigeria. He sought damages from the two bodies on grounds that his rights were violated when they broke into his house without a search warrant.

“Having carefully considered the petition, the evidence and the law, I am not satisfied that the petitioner has proved either that his constitutional rights were violated or that he suffered any damage,” Justice Mwita ruled.

Judge Mwita also noted that the law allows police to arrest, without a warrant, any person suspected of having committed a crime under the Copyright Act.