The court has issued sermon to the Malaysian national to appear in court to give his testimony in a case involving Ksh 2.85 billion gold scam business.
While issuing the sermon, Milimani principal magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo considered the prayers by the prosecution where they requested for adjournment of the hearing since the complainant who is a Malaysian national was not present in court,
“Fresh sermons have been issued issued to Halid Bin Yacoob to appear before this court to give his testimony in the matter,” the magistrate directed.
State counsel James Murage told the magistrate that the witness and the key complainant hails from Malaysia and the officer investigating the matter tried to reach at him through WhatsApp to no avail,
“Your honour I pray for an adjournment of the matter since the key complainant in this matter is not present before the court and the officer investigating the matter tried to reach him this morning without success,” Murage told the court.
Murage also told the court that there are other witnesses who are ready to testify in the matter but they prefer the key witness to finish with his testimony first and others to follow.
The defence lawyers Wandungi Kirathe and Alex Kimani opposed the application by the prosecution citing that they were ready to proceed and urged the court to decline the application,
“Your honour we oppose the application for adjournment of the matter. The prosecution made the same application when the hearing of the matter was scheduled for hearing and its their duty to avail the complainant to testify,” Kimani told the court.
The lawyer said that his clients have been suffering since they have been appearing before the court all the time they are required to but the one who brought them fails to appear leading to the delayed justice.
The lawyer urged the court to apply Section 202 of the constitution which dictates the actions to be taken after the complainant in the matter fails to appear before the court several occasions,
“Kindly your honour I pray you dismiss this matter since the complainant is no longer interested to pursue the case,” Kimani prayed.
In response, Murage urged the court to consider the weighty of the matter and consider his plea for adjournment.
He further informed the court about the current situation in Malaysia where it is grappling with a massive gas pipeline fire in Putra Heights that resulted in evacuations and injuries,
“Considering the current situation in Malaysia, no one knows whether the complainant is safe or not but we hope he is fine. For that reason I pray you consider our prayer and grant our request for adjournment,” Murage said.
The accused persons were charged with conspiracy to steal Ksh 2.85 billion from two Malaysian nationals in a non-existing gold scam business.
The seven accused persons include; Didier Muke, Brian Otiende, Patrick Otieno, Mark Kabete, Ken Kiboi, Joshua Ngandi and Charles Cincent Njerenga.
It was reported that they were on the verge of a 500-kilogramme semi-refined gold bar fraud scam.
The suspects were alleged to have visibly shocked, the complainant who landed in Kenya from Kuala Lumpur on December 25, 2023, following an invitation by Rock Africa miner operated by the suspects.
In the well-choreographed scheme, the suspects set up an operational base in a house in Kileleshwa, with fully furnished office-style rooms to dupe the unsuspecting foreign nationals.
The two foreigners were to meet the seven on December 27, to finalize on the first shipment of 50 kg refined gold, per kilogram going for Ksh 7.2 million.
The hearing will proceed on August 27, 2025.
