Two directors charged over Sh25m deposit in Karen land deal
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Kenyan detectives say a buyer paid Ksh25 million upfront for a half-acre parcel off Comboni Crescent in Karen, then never received the land; two company directors were charged with obtaining money by false pretences.
Two company directors have been charged with obtaining money by false pretences after a buyer paid Ksh25 million for a parcel of land in Karen, Nairobi, and never received the property, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said.
According to the DCI, the deal dates to 30 March 2026, when the complainant agreed to buy a roughly 0.2042-hectare parcel off Comboni Crescent in Karen for Ksh45 million and paid Ksh25 million upfront as a deposit while waiting for the transfer process to begin. The transfer never happened and the buyer reported the matter to the police.
Detectives from the DCI's Land Fraud Investigation Unit established that discrepancies over the property's boundaries had emerged, leading the seller to seek a fresh subdivision of neighbouring parcels. The property remained under the company's ownership, leaving the purchase in limbo months after the deposit was paid, and the proposed arrangement changed the original terms, the DCI said.
The file was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which directed charges of obtaining money by false pretences. The directors were arrested on 6 November 2026 and charged at the Milimani Law Courts on 9 November, where they pleaded not guilty and were granted a Ksh100,000 bond or a Ksh50,000 cash bail.
The case adds to a run of land fraud prosecutions in Nairobi this year, including the conviction of former Provincial Commissioner Davis Chelogoi over a Ksh1.35 billion Lower Kabete property scam and charges against ten suspects over an alleged Ksh1 billion fraud in which fake National Land Commission documents were used to lure buyers.