Turkish billionaire to remain in custody over alleged link to terrorism

Turkish billionaire Osman Elsek, Gokmen Sandikci and lawyer Cliff Ombeta at the Mombasa Law Courts on January 27, 2026. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

Turkish billionaire Elsek Osman and Gokmen Sandikci will be held for five more days to allow the state to comb through their laptops and phones for any forensic evidence on their financial records, allegedly linking them to terrorism.

On Tuesday, the prosecution told Senior Resident Magistrate that they were waiting for forensic audit from Nairobi to establish whether Osman and Sandikci are financing any terrorist group.

The state had said that the 62-year-old Turkish investor with a Sh6 billion investment is suspected of financing terrorism activities.

However, the state is yet to present any records showing which terrorism organisation Osman has been funding.

Osman was arrested on January 13 at Mtwapa following a road rage incident between him and two governors and a Member of Parliament from Nyanza after a vehicle ferrying the officials hit the suspect’s V8 and sped off.

Osman’s defence lawyers John Khaminwa, Cliff Ombeta and Daniel Wamotsa, have discounted the state’s claim, terming it a fabrication, saying their client was arrested over a traffic offence.

Ombeta said that upon catching up with the vehicle, Osman was assaulted and thereafter accused of assaulting the county government officials.

In an affidavit sworn by the suspect, Wajir governor has been mentioned as one of the people who were involved in the road rage.

Meanwhile, Khaminwa has claimed that the arrest of Osman is a scheme by senior people in government who want him deported to grab his Sh6 billion estate.

He said that Osman has been a refugee in Kenya for the last 20 years, with investments and offers scholarships to more than 300 children.  

The lawyer accused the state of abusing powers to corruptly detain and deport Osman who is being investigated for allegedly financing terrorism.

“Those who call Osman a terrorist are the ones who want to take his properties. The case before you is corrupt in nature and character. You cannot transfer an accident case to a terrorism case. It is corruption of the highest order. We are going through corruption at the highest level possible,” said Khaminwa who pleaded with the court to release Osman.

He said that Osman has a cardiovascular condition and risks dying in the cell.

While opposing the billionaire’s detention, Ombeta said that the prosecution has not shown what they have accomplished to demand for 14 more days to detain Osman.

He argued that Osman had already provided bank documents to the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) who he accused of doing nothing.

“Why do they need our clients in custody while they wait to receive the reports. When the prosecution comes to you, they must file what they have already done and tell the court why they need more time. The claim that they are getting difficult getting documents from agencies has nothing to do with our clients,” said Ombeta.

On January 14, Odhiambo allowed the state to detain Osman and Sandikci for 14 days pending investigations.

On Tuesday, state prosecutor Barbara Sombo applied to detain Osman and Sandikci for a further 14 days to allow investigators to obtain forensic report from the suspects laptops and phones.

“We seek an extension of 14 days to detain the respondents to allow the investigators obtain forensic report from the laptops and phones of the respondents,” said Sombo.

Sombo said the two are being investigated on separate matters of accident and terrorism.

"We are not in dispute as to the state of his refugee but he is not immune to prosecution. He is not being investigated of accident. They are here as refugees and a lawyer from refugee consortium has confirmed so. We have been informed they have financial muscle running into billions and we are investigating financial funding of terrorism," said Sombo.

However, the magistrate allowed the state to detain Osman and Sandikci for 5 days.

“Given the sensitive nature of the investigations, I will allow the state five days to detain the respondents. There will be no further extension of detention days,” said Odhiambo.