Stephen Juma Ndeda, an advocate of the High Court, appeared before the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kahawa on Friday, facing charges of forgery, uttering false documents, and money laundering.
Ndeda pleaded not guilty to all charges and was granted bail, with the court setting a bond of Ksh. 1 million or a cash bail of Ksh. 200,000.
The charges followed an extensive investigation by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Financial Investigations Unit, triggered by intelligence reports received on June 26, 2023.
The reports linked Ndeda to alleged offenses committed in June 2020.
According to the DCI, Ndeda’s law firm, Ndeda & Company, received USD 52,490,000 (approximately Ksh. 6.8 billion) via wire transfers.
The funds were purportedly intended for the purchase of a 50-acre parcel of land in Kajiado County.
The transaction involved a sale agreement between vendor Andrew Simiyu and purchaser Alguns Limited, with a sale price of Ksh. 60 million and an initial deposit of Ksh. 5 million due within 90 days.
However, suspicions arose when the funds were transferred by a different entity, Algans Eood, a company registered in Sofia, Bulgaria.
This discrepancy raised concerns about an international money laundering and arms smuggling operation.
The DCI revealed that the funds, initially wired to Ndeda’s Nairobi bank account, were reversed due to non-compliance with the bank’s internal policies on money laundering and suspicious transactions.
Further investigation found that Ndeda had allegedly forged the land sale agreement, falsely claiming it had been signed by landowner Andrew Simiyu, and presented the document at the bank to facilitate the illicit transfer of funds.
Simiyu denied any involvement in or knowledge of the sale agreement, and after a review of the case, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) agreed with the investigators’ findings.
As a result, the ODPP directed that Ndeda be charged with forgery, uttering false documents, and money laundering.