A nephew of the late Mombasa tycoon Jaswant Dhanjal in court for fraudulently selling a prime piece of land that was to be shared with his five cousins.
Joginder Singh Dhanjal is accused of selling off eight parcels of land in Mombasa Business District valued at Sh400 million that were part of the tycoon's multi-billion-dollar properties.
The late Jaswant left a multi-billion-dollar estate that has been the subject of protracted dispute between his three sons and the sons of his brothers.
The late billionaire and his three brothers, Dalip Singh Dhanjal, Narinder Singh Dhanjal and Baldev Singh Dhanjal, had shares in companies that owned several properties jointly.
Their offspring Jaspal Kaur Nagi, Sukhwant Kaur Kindi, Surjit Singh, Jaswant Dhanjal and Daljit Singh Dhanjal inherited the properties.
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It is alleged that on diverse dates between May 19, 2019, and July 8, 2019, Joginder conspired to defraud Jaypee and Sons Limited of eight parcels of land valued at Sh400 million.
According to court papers, Joginder allegedly subdivided the said parcels and sold them.
He is accused of subdividing and registering the said parcels into 20 more parallel title deeds while purporting they are genuine and valid subdivisions and title deeds.
Joginder also faces another charge of pretending to be a sole director of Ms Jaypee and Sons Limited and purporting the titles were genuine.
On October 9, 2020, Justice Mugure Thande ordered for the expeditious distribution of the vast multi-billion estate of Jaswant among his five children, in a protracted succession dispute that has lasted over two decades.
Justice Thande directed the administrators of Jaswant’s estate to proceed to distribute the 22 listed properties among the rightful beneficiaries.
Among the properties are prestigious tourist hotels, residential properties and trading companies.
The judge noted that since the demise of the deceased on October 26, 2004, and the issuance of the initial and subsequent grants, the estate is yet to be distributed to the beneficiaries.
Early this week, Joginder failed to appear in court to plead to the charges of fraud after falling ill and getting a seven-day bed rest.
Joginder’s lawyer, Dan Ondego, applied for the plea to be deferred until September 4.
Ondego said that Joginder was hospitalised.
“There is a recommendation by his doctor from Zahir Health Care, and he has been given bed rest for seven days. We seek the court to defer the plea for seven days,” said Ondego.
Senior prosecution counsel Barbara Sombo said there was no objection to having Joginder charged on a later date.
The family lawyer, Fredrick Aoko, said he applied to have Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo declare the parcels a crime scene and order the vacation of anyone working on the said parcels and the police to man the parcels.
The lawyer said that those who are not before the court might interfere with the property. Dr Aoko said that they will apply for the court to visit the scene.
“The subject matter is fraud. We seek the court to declare the piece of land a scene of crime and ask the court to preserve the property because we intend to make an application to visit the scene, and any activity ongoing is a fraud,” said Aoko.
However, Ondego, who applied in opposition to the oral application, asked the court to allow for more time for a formal application and have him seek instructions from his client.
“I will be constrained to the application since it is a serious application by the parties, and it touches on a third party. Let him make the formal application, and we also hear the third parties,” said Ondego.
Odhiambo allowed for a formal application and had Joginder take a plea on September 4, 2025.