Five accused of defrauding late tycoon TSS Sh8.7b set free

Judge's gavel. [Courtesy/GettyImages]

The five suspects charged with conspiracy to defraud the late Mombasa business tycoon, Sheikh Tahir Said (TSS), of Sh8.7 billion eight years ago, have been acquitted.  

Yesterday, Mombasa Chief Magistrate Alex Ithukua said the five have no case to answer. He said the prosecution failed to adduce evidence to link James Mwangi, Awey Ahmed, Zahir Abbas Zein Ahmed, and Victor Were to the offence.  

"The conspiracy is not established. It appears it was perpetrated by somebody else, and as such, the five have been acquitted of the count of conspiracy," said Ithuku. 

The magistrate said there was no complainant in the case. He said TSS's widow and daughter, who were mentioned having participated in the transfer of shares, were not called to give evidence. 

“TSS’s widow whose signature was forged to secure a loan did not come to court to ascertain if the signature was not hers,” he said. 

The magistrate said even KCB Bank, which is in the custody of the documents that were claimed to have been forged, was not a complainant. 

“The bank, through a lawyer who testified, confirmed the documents in question, which were used in securing a loan from the bank, are not forged.”  

The court also observed that TSS’s lawyer, who was the custodian of the documents, was not called to give evidence. 

“The bank did not complain of any forgery following the evidence of a lawyer from a law firm where the documents were executed,” said Ithuku. 

The five were charged with seven counts of defrauding the tycoon between 2011 and 2015. However, they denied the charges and were released on bond. 

The magistrate did not put the accused in defence. He ordered that the cash bail or any bond that the accused had deposited be released to them.