Nairobi advocate arraigned on forgery, money laundering charges

An advocate of the High Court was on Friday arraigned at the Chief Magistrate's Court in Kahawa and charged with forgery, uttering false documents and money laundering.

Stephen Juma Ndeda pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was released on bail, with terms set at a Ksh. 1 million bond or cash bail of Ksh. 200,000.

The charges stem from a comprehensive investigation conducted by DCI detectives from the Financial Investigations Unit, prompted by intelligence reports received on June 26, 2023. The reports linked the advocate to the alleged offences committed on various dates in June 2020.

According to the DCI, Ndeda's law firm, Ndeda & Company, received USD 52,490,000 (around Ksh.6.8B)  via wire transfers purportedly for the purchase of a 50-acre parcel of land in Kajiado County.

The funds were linked to a sale agreement involving Andrew Simiyu as the vendor and Alguns Limited as the purchaser. The agreement stipulated a sale price of Ksh.60,000,000, with an initial deposit of Ksh.5,000,000 due within 90 days.

However, discrepancies soon emerged. The funds were transferred by a different entity named Algans Eood, registered in Sofia, Bulgaria, raising suspicions of an international money laundering and arms smuggling syndicate.

"Funds were wired to the advocate's Nairobi bank account, which was immediately reversed to the sender on account of non-compliance with the bank's internal policies and regulatory guidelines on money laundering and reporting of suspicious transactions," said the DCI in a statement on X.  

"It was further established that the advocate with intent to defraud forged the land sale agreement purporting it to have been signed by Andrew Simiyu (owner of the land) which he uttered in the bank as supporting documents to facilitate the illicit transfer of funds from foreign jurisdiction to Kenya."

Simiyu disputed having signed or having any knowledge of the sale agreement in question regarding the intended sale of his parcel of land.

"Upon independent review of the case by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions he was in concurrence with the investigator's findings and recommendations and therefore directed Stephen Juma Ndeda to be charged in court for Forgery, Uttering False Documents and Money Laundering," said the DCI.