Mombasa lawyer charged over Sh3.7m land fraud

Mombasa lawyer Leonard Mugusa Katuga at the Mombasa Law Courts yesterday. [Willis Oketch, Standard]

A lawyer was yesterday charged with 10 corruption counts, including forgery of a title deed and obtaining Sh3.67 million from a local resident through false pretence.

Leonard Mugusa Katuga of Katuga and Company Advocates was alleged to have committed the crimes between November 2017 and November this year.

Katuga was arrested last Friday in a restaurant in Mwembe Tayari after police looked for him for several days.

He denied the charges before Mombasa Chief Magistrate Julius Nangea yesterday.

The magistrate freed him on a Sh2 million bond with a surety of the same amount or a Sh1 million cash bail.

According to the prosecution, the lawyer obtained Sh3.67 million from Omar Jibich Abayo by pretending he could sell him a piece of land in Mtwapa, Kilifi County, and thereafter prepared documents, including a fake title deed, transfer papers and a false search from the Lands Registry to conclude or back up a fraudulent or non-existent transaction.