Police in Matungulu sub-county of Machakos County have warned the public to be wary of fake land dealers.
Police said they had been receiving complaints from the public of the same piece of land being sold to several people.
Matungulu sub-county deputy police commander Evans Mose said land brokers were taking advantage of the sub-county's proximity to the city whose residents acquire land to construct houses.
He urged land buyers to do a thorough background check at the county lands offices in Machakos or at Ardhi House to establish whether the land being sold is genuine or not.
"I urge members of the public not to be duped by land brokers and con men who are fleecing members of the public of their money by selling to them "air" instead of land," he said.
He said his office was investigating numerous cases of people being sold land that does not exist in the area.
The police boss added that some of the complaints he had received were of people being sold land whose titles are held by banks as collateral for loans.
"We have a case where some people bought land from somebody who had borrowed a loan from a bank and used the land title as collateral. When people confronted the owner demanding title deeds, it was established that the title deed was held at the bank," said Mose.
In one instance in May this year, a clerk with a Nairobi land-selling company was charged with defrauding a woman of Sh363,000 by pretending he was in a position to sell her a plot.
Charles Okoma Sawanga from Ngomongo/Komarock Development Company Limited appeared before Milimani Magistrate Muthoni Njagi and denied the offence, which he was said to have committed jointly with others not before the court on February 4, 2015 and August 2020 at the firm's office along Tsavo Road in Nairobi.
Sawanga, 48, allegedly obtained the money from a 43-year-old widow, Damaris Wangui Wangari.
According to the charge sheet, Sawanga pretended that he would sell Wangari a parcel of land known as Donyo Sabuk/Komarock block 1/22499 measuring approximately 0.0630 hectares in Malaa area.
The charge sheet said that on diverse dates between February 14, 2015 and August 3, 2020 he jointly with others, not before the court and with intent to defraud the widow, pretended that they were the genuine owners of the land.
He was released on a bond of Sh200,000 or a cash bail of the same amount.