Former PS charged for forging a title deed

By Peter Ochieng

Former Principal Secretary (PS) Dave Mwangi in the Ministry of Internal Security has been charged for the fraudulent acquisition of a parcel of land located along Mombasa Road.

The land in question is reportedly valued at Sh350 million. He was arrested and charged, after reportedly forging a title deed with the help of ‘a rogue official’ at the Ministry of Lands.

Mwangi was nabbed following investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) land fraud investigators, after a complaint was lodged by a victim.

According to the DCI, his two accomplices, Sammy Karanja and Moses Ojuka are still at large, with efforts towards their arrest being intensified.

“In the case, the accused had jointly with two others - Sammy Louis Karanja and Moses Ojuka (former employee at the Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning) - forged documents of a 1.591Ha parcel of land into the names of companies owned by Mwangi Munya, before leasing the same to a Chinese company at Sh12 million,” stated the DCI.

The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) decided to charge the three with three counts of conspiracy to defraud, uttering a false document and forgery of a title. Mwangi, the Director Olbolsat Farm Limited was arrested and arraigned at Milimani Law Courts, where he pleaded not guilty.

He was slapped with a bond of Sh20 million with the alternative of a cash bail of Sh5 million.

Mwangi’s arraignment came days after the DCI cautioned land owners, especially those in upscale suburbs of an organized criminal ring, that is targeting their parcels of land with a view to obtain hefty sums of money using forged documents.

The criminal enterprise, the DCI indicated, sets in at a time when developers are approaching individuals with underdeveloped parcels of land, where the two parties agree on profitable terms for the development of the land.

One suspect, Lawrence Martin Ochieng who reportedly approached the victim with a promise to get him certificates of lease for both parcels of land was arrested and arraigned at Milimani Law Courts this week.