Court NewsLatest News
Auctioneer Defends Role in Alleged KSh 150M Fraud Case Involving 80-Year-Old Widow
After the auction, the highest bidder was Oksana Investment Supplies Limited, a company that was owned by the first accused person, Amos Mugweru Mwangi.
A city auctioneer has defended himself in a case where he is among five accused persons charged with conspiring with Faulu bank officials to defraud an 80-year-old widow by the illegal sale of her property worth KSh 150 million.
Robert Wamwere Maina, trading as Antique Auction Agencies, told the Milimani Chief Magistrate, Lucas Onyina, that he received instructions from the bank to conduct a public auction on the property after the owner defaulted on a loan of Ksh 64 million.
In his defence, he told the court that he followed the required protocols as per the law, and he had no personal interest in the auction since he is a registered auctioneer.
“I was approached by Faulu Microfinance Bank to conduct the auction of the property LR 209/11395, at Huruma estate in Nairobi within Nairobi county,” Maina told the court.
He told the court that he received instructions from the Bank through a letter dated December 16, 2016.
Maina stated that after receiving the instruction letter, he wrote a readmission notice notifying the defaulter, who was Alice Wamwea, about the planned auction of the property.
“I personally served the property owner,” he said.
The first auction was done on March 1, 2017, but the Bank did not offer the highest bid of Ksh 80 million since it did not meet their market price.
Two days later, he was telephoned by the bank to halt the auction since there was an order from the court to stop the auction.
On February 28, 2018, the Bank instructed him to proceed with the auction, and he advertised the same on Nation Newspaper, where the auction was scheduled to proceed on March 1, 2018.
After the auction, the highest bidder was Oksana Investment Supplies Limited, a company that was owned by the first accused person, Amos Mugweru Mwangi.
He was charged alongside Faulu Microfinance bank credit officers Amos Mugweru Mwangi, Peter Kefa Onsongo, and Tom Jaseme, together with Trader Paul Njuki, a businesswoman, and Esther Muthoni Maina.
They were charged that on diverse dates between May 30, 2015, and March 28, 2018, at an unknown place in Nairobi within Nairobi county jointly conspired to defraud Alice Wanjiru Wamwea by means of fraudulent auction of her property LR NO 209/11315, in Huruma, whichwas valued at Sh 150 million.
Wamwea lodged a complaint before the court to salvage her property LR NO 209/11315 located in Huruma Estate in Nairobi within Nairobi county which the bank took in possession and sold it for what they termed as failure to pay the loan she borrowed from them.
In her testimony, the widow told the court that she borrowed Sh 52 million loan from Faulu Bank in order to develop the property by building rental houses where the money was disbursed in two separate payments at a rate of 12% per annum given a period of 54 months.
She put the title of the property as security of the loan and signed the relevant documents in regards to the loan request.
The defence hearing will proceed on February, 26, 2026.
