Couple in Sh18.5m export fraud case asks DPP to review file
What you need to know:
- Ms Jennifer Mukonyo Mbogo, who is city politician Steve Mbogo’s sister, was charged last week alongside her husband Nathan Loyd Ndung’u.
- The couple have asked Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji to recall their file for perusal before giving further instructions.
- They claim they have been subjected to mental torture, defamation and irregular incarceration, and intends to sue for loss of business.
A couple charged with defrauding a company of more that Sh18.5 million in a fake avocado export deal has asked the DPP to review the case.
Ms Jennifer Mukonyo Mbogo, who is city politician Steve Mbogo’s sister, was charged last week alongside her husband Nathan Lloyd Ndung’u.
The two, who are also directors of Agro-Veg Health Kenya, are accused of defrauding Ezetel Kenya Limited.
Through lawyer Cliff Ombeta, the accused on Tuesday noted that the case stemmed from a transaction that was purely commercial.
They asked Director of Public Prosecution Noordin Haji to recall their file for perusal before giving further instructions.
THE DEFENCE
Mr Ombeta informed the DPP, vide a correspondence dated July 28, that Ezetel and Agro-Veg had a contractual agreement on the avocado export business.
The lawyer says there was no criminal element in the transaction and urges the DPP to intervene after perusing the entire file, all the agreements and the suspects’ pledged personal undertakings.
“This couple has been in the avocado export business for a long time and has never incubated any criminal thought against the complainants,” he tells the DPP.
He added that his clients received a demand letter to immediately pay the complainant Sh25 million or face a fraud case.
Mr Ombeta is apprehensive that the case was influenced as the sums which form its basis were personal loans for which his clients wrote post-dated cheques.
“Please recall the file for perusal and further advice as an injustice has since been done against our clients,” Mr Ombeta tells the DPP.
THE ACCUSATIONS
The couple, who have since been released on Sh200,000 cash bail, claim they have been subjected to mental torture, defamation and irregular incarceration, and intends to sue for loss of business.
They have also complained to the DPP about the conduct of two police officers who “acted outside their limits during the investigations preceding their arraignment before Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi.”
The two were jointly accused of conspiring to defraud Ezetel by pretending, as directors of Avo-Veg Health, that they were in a position to partner with the firm to finance the avocado export business.
They are charged with conspiracy to defraud and obtaining money by false pretences between March 1 and April 1.
They are facing 13 counts of issuing bad cheques for a total sum of Sh990,000, a crime allegedly committed on March 28, with the intent to defraud.
The court heard that the couple drew the SBM Bank cheques in favour of Ezetel yet they had previously instructed the bank not to honour the said cheques.
