Court Terminates Ksh 112M Theft Case Against Directors, Citing Malicious Prosecution
"As of now, the charges have been terminated, and my clients are free. The DPP can now review both files and decide whether to charge at their discretion," the defence lawyer said.
The High Court in Nairobi has terminated a case in which two company directors were charged with stealing Ksh 112 million, saying the charges were maliciously presented.
While terminating the matter, Justice Alexander Muteti noted that the charges brought before the magistrate court were misleading, pointing his finger at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Parklands.
On September 25, 2024, the Director of Public Prosecutions approved charges against Tribhovan Chavda and Jayesh Chavda after evaluating evidence submitted by DCI Parklands to charge the duo.
The intention for the Applicant, DCI Parklands, was considered in bad faith since two pleas of the exact nature and complainant were registered the day the respondents took the plea.
The two plea files E 988/2024 and E 989/2024 were said to be registered on the same day, each being an independent file on its own, but one file was available before the magistrate during plea taking.
“Before 3 pm, the Applicant brought the file to the DPP’s attention that the existence of another file involving the same subject matter, over the same accused persons, and filed by the same complainant, which was being investigated by the Banking Fraud Unit (BFIU), and which the DPP had not received.
“Procedurally, that action was not proper, as a matter cannot be subjected to two parallel investigations by different offices of the same institution, being Parklands DCI and Banking Fraud Unit (BFIU), both being under the National Police Service,” Justice Muteti noted.
There was a real and imminent threat of abuse of the legal process if the
The Applicant’s application was not allowed, which could lead to adverse conclusions.
The Applicant was supposed to seek the charges withdrawn before the respondents could take a plea, since the DPP was to evaluate evidence contained in both files before a conclusive decision to charge, but he failed to do so.
After it came to notice that two similar files exist, the prosecution wrote a letter to the High Court dated October 6, 2024, seeking leave to withdraw the charges under section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The DCI Parklands had omitted some evidence before the DPP’s directions to charge reached the prosecutor.
While addressing the court in their affidavit, the respondents believe that this was a deliberate and malicious attempt by DCI Parklands to charge them swiftly before the aforementioned DPP’s directives.
They also indicated that their fellow directors had planned to remove Tribhovan as the managing director of Trv Developers Limited and TRV Towers Limited, where he holds 51% and 30% of the shares, respectively.
Tribhovan was removed as a director in September 2023. His colleagues behind this scheme orchestrated this: Virji: Virji Meghji Patel, Purshottam Premji Vera, Vinod Narshi Lathia, Bhimji J. Bhudia, and Patrick Sagwa Kisia.
They alleged that Jayesh was a collateral victim, being the son of Tribhovan.
They aver that Virji, Purshottam, and Vinod are currently illegally posing as Directors, and unlawfully excluding Tribhovan Lalji Chavda from the Board of Directors of the companies. At the same time, Bhimji and Sagwa Kisia are purported employees thereof.
While briefing the media shortly after mentioning the matter in the magistrate’s court to close the file, the defence lawyer Victor Hezekiah said the court had terminated the charges,
“As of now, the charges have been terminated, and my clients are free. The DPP can now review both files and decide whether to charge at their discretion,” the defence lawyer said.
