Foreigners swindled millions of shillings

Isaac Rudrot has been fighting legally to get back his Sh1b hotel in Malindi County. 5. (pix 5-9)Salama Beach Hotel in Watamu, Malindi County, formerly known as Temple Point Breach Hotel that was forcefully taken over from Mr Isaac Rudrot and his Italian partner Steffano Uccelli is to revert to his ownership after three appellate judges ruled in his favour.

In their quest to own property in the tourism sector and real estate, foreigners have lost millions of shillings of property.

They have been duped into believing that they can only own property through partnerships with locals, while others have been rendered penniless through fake orders allegedly issued by foreign courts to attach property in the country.

On Friday last week, a local hotelier and his Italian director won a legal battle over Sh1 billion luxurious property at the coast.

Salama Beach Hotel in Watamu, Malindi County, formerly known as Temple Point Beach Hotel that was forcefully taken from Isaac Rudrot is to be returned to him after three appellate judges ruled in his favour.

The move is likely to see local and international tourists who had booked to stay at the hotel for the Christmas holiday, look for alternative accommodation or pay the new managers for their stay.

“I am currently following the legal procedure to have the property reverted to my name and partner- Steffano Uccelli. The Officer Commanding Watamu Police station is expected to implement the court order by overseeing a smooth and peaceful takeover,” he told Sunday Standard.

Mr Rudrot, who is a Kenyan won the case after three appellate judges dismissed an appeal that was lodged by Hans Jurgen Langer and his wife Zahra Langer.

Alnashir Visram, Wanjiru Karanja and Martha Koome upheld a High Court decision that the couple had used a fake foreign judgment allegedly issued by a court in Milan, Italy to possess the hotel.

Judgement

Information obtained by Uccelli from an Italian lawyer Taglioretti Farese Cicerchia Capua, shows the judgment was a creation of Hans because the Milan Court of Appeal had not issued orders in favour of Viaggi Del Ventagglio.

It was discovered that the Milan case number on the purported judgment belonged to a matter that was still pending in court.

Rudrot’s tribulations started in 2002 when the Langers under their company Accredo AG sued Viaggi Del Ventaggilio and was awarded Euros 825,000 by the court in Milan.

Later, Viaggi was declared bankrupt and the only asset remaining in their possession was shared in Salama Beach Hotel.

This saw the German couple file a case at the High Court in Malindi to have the Milan court decision executed and the court recorded a consent that allowed the transfer of the hotel shares to them on a 50 by 50 basis.

The court also ordered that Uccelli who was the resident director continue to be in the board of directors of the hotel.

Aggrieved by the decision, Rudrot and his partner moved to court in November 2014 to have the orders reviewed on grounds that the consent was signed by his partner on his behalf through misrepresentation of facts, fraud and coercion.

It emerged that Viaggi was to pay the legal fees but he contested the order and filed an application at the Milan Supreme Court.

The court ruled in his favour and ordered that parties resume proceedings before another department of the same Court of Appeal of Milan, determines the amount Viaggi owes a company, Listos, that had transferred its credit to him.

On April 30, 2015, High Court Judge Said Chitembwe ordered that the ownership of the hotel be reverted to Rudrot by the Langers within seven days. The couple were also to be removed as signatories to the bank.

Aggrieved by the decision, the Langers moved to Court of Appeal.

They claimed that Justice Chitembwe erred by quashing the order that had given them the 50 by 50 shareholding of the company and making pronouncements on issues that were not raised in the pleadings.

The appellate judges dismissed their case, saying from the High Court proceedings, there was decree from the court of Milan in favour of Viaggi capable of enforcement.

“Consequently, the reversal of the orders on shareholding which had been made in the decree was well within the ambit of the pleadings,” the judges ruled.

Rudrot welcomed the judgment and asked the police to abide by the law in executing it.

In Diani, a British pilot was recently allowed to repossess property that had been taken over by a local.

The property had been registered in the name of a company he jointly owns with the local, instead of his name, Captain Christopher Michael Lockley.

Three appellate judges upheld a High Court decision that ordered the name on the title deed - Juletabi African Adventure Limited - be changed to the pilot’s name.

Apart from the piece of land, a logbook for a vehicle purchased for the company was also reverted to his name.

And the High Court sitting in Nanyuki dismissed a man’s bid to have criminal proceedings against him stopped. David Mwenda Gitari is facing charges of obtaining money by false pretense from Ms Csilla Szabo. He was given money to buy a piece of land for Szabo but registered it in his name.

In some cases, tourists visiting the Coast have ended up penniless after buying property for women who later turn against them.

A German, Frank Heinz-Karl, went berserk after spending all his money on Kenyan women.

Stefan Andreas Delno who is in his late 60’s was forced to flee the country through Uganda after his passport was allegedly confiscated by a Kenyan in collusion with his numerous girlfriends.

And a man’s decision to register a title deed in his name instead of a foreigner’s has landed him in court.

David Mwenda Gitari will face charges of obtaining money by false pretense from Csilla Szabo after the High Court sitting in Nanyuki dismissed his application to quash the case.

Lady Justice Mary Kasango noted that the matter was not a civil debt or a commercial transaction.

Kasango further said that the court cannot order the Trial Magistrate to stop hearing the case, without any evidence on illegality, irrationality or impropriety.

Mr Gitari who is a director at a land-buying and selling company is said to have received Sh800,000 from the foreigner to buy a piece of land for her.

He claimed that his role was to identify, buy and sub-divide the piece of land. Gitari told the court that Ms Szabo needed to propose a trustee to hold the land for her because foreigners were not allowed to own free-hold land in the country.

When the foreigner allegedly failed to do so, he transferred the property located in Marura, Nanyuki, to his name. Under Judicial review, Gitari told the court that he sub-divided the property but failed to get buyers due to the general election.

Police officers in Nanyuki arrested the man when he failed to refund the money and arraigned him in the Chief Magistrate’s court to face charges of obtaining money by false pretense.

He raised an objection before taking plea but the court ruled against him on June 26, a move that saw him file a Judicial review at the High Court on August 21 after Szabo left the country.

In the application, he wanted the court to quash the proceedings before the trial court.

The Director of Public Prosecution’s office opposed the application, saying it was to interrupt the case. The court was told that Gitari relied on a fake agreement between him and Szabo to obtain High Court orders.

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