In summary
- He informed the court that after along negotiations with the purported owner they settled at ksh 25 Milion as the selling price from the initial ksh. 28 Milion.
- John Macharia, emotionally told the trial magistrate it after demarcation that someone came claiming to be son of James Mwangi Wagura the genuine owner of the piece land.
A land fraud victim today emotionally testified how he lost Ksh 25 million in a fraudulent land deal in Runda Estate.
John Macharia told the court how a man by the name of James Mwangi Wagura purpoted to be the bonafide land owner.
Macharia further told the trial magistrate Robinson Ondieki that he met the suspect through a woman who was operating a makeshift food kiosk.
He informed the court that after along negotiations with the purported owner they settled at ksh 25 Milion as the selling price from the initial ksh. 28 Milion.
Proof of ‘Ownership’
He said that he involved his lawyer who instructed seller to adduce all the documents relating to the land on sale.
Macharia told the court that James Mwangi acting on the instructions of the complainant’s lawyer deposited a land title deed accompanied with a spousal consent from his wife Janet Muli Musili.
“After he adduced all documents, my lawyer instructed me to pay the first instalment, he attached a spousal consent on the woman in the dock,” Macharia told court.
He testified that after his lawyer conducted such on the lawyer, he was instructed to pay the deposit Ksh 3 Milion to seller ‘James Mwangi Wagura’ and additional ksh 1 Milion stamp duty to the Kenya Revenue Authority.
After the initial deposits the complainant stated that his lawyer and ‘James Mwangi Wagura’s’ lawyer started the process of the land transfer to his names.
It is in the tail end of the process that he was instructed to pay the balance Ksh 18 million , which he did through a bank transaction on 1st Dec 2016.
The accused person then called the complainant that he would like that the remaining transaction be paid in cash, in which the complainant duly complied with and gave him in cash and agreement signed.
After successful completion of the payment, the complainant then told that wanted to erect beacons on the purchased land,they mutually agreed and installed the beacons clearly demarcating the land.
John Macharia, emotionally told the trial magistrate it after demarcation that someone came claiming to be son of James Mwangi Wagura the genuine owner of the piece land. He had logged a complaint trespass through a woman who was running a food kiosk who called the John Macharia,after which they exchanged contact and agreed to meet.
“The woman who was operating a food kiosk told me that someone had come to claiming to be genuine land owner..I then told her to give the complainant my phone number so that we can communicate and meet.” He told court.
Genuine Owner Resurface
Days later, the two ‘owners’ met at city lawyer’s office where a search was conducted, it is after the search it was revealed that the genuine land owner had no knowledge of the transfer and transaction in connection to his property.
“The complainant lawyer told then told us that,it was true that the serial number of the title deed matched what they had in the registry but the material of the document lacked security seals and therefore was fake,” Macharia said.
Gone To Trail
At that point the effort to reach seller ‘James Mwangi Wagura was futile since he had switched of his phone, the phone of this purpoted spouse Janet Muli Musili had also been switched off.
The matter was then reported to Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the accused persons Izaak Kuria(Real name) and Janet Muli netted,It was then established that accused persons used forged and falsified documents to defraud potential buyer John Macharia of Ksh 25 Million and James Mwangi Wagura his piece of land valued Ksh39 and intentionally reduced it Ksh 25 Million for quick gain.
The investigations officer is scheduled to testify on 13th April 2013.
By Rodgers Oduor
