A Kilifi detective who investigated a Sh. 32 million fraud case involving two Italian nationals against fellow Italians claimed the accused person tried to sublease a freehold land illegally.
Phenix Oduya who was testifying in the case involving Daniele Lo Coco and Massimo Nativi told Kilifi Chief Magistrate James Mwaniki that
Foreigners are not allowed to own freehold land but the two Italians have a Green card purporting to be the rightful owners of the freehold land in Watamu.
Oduya the fourth and last witness in the case against Lococo and Nativi was responding to a question by the defence counsel Kinyua Kamundi during cross examination on how the Fraud took place.
In his response the DCI officer told the court that the accused persons were not the legal owners of the land at the time they conducted the transactions which was illegal.
Land grabbing case
While he did not dispute the fact that the two accused persons were the rightful owners of the Villas they were selling.
He claimed that they ought to have been rightful land owners to enable them sublease the freehold land to the complainants.
At one time Njiru attempted to stop Oduya from explaining how the fraud took place but was stopped by the Magistrate.
Who clarified that it was him who had requested the investigating officer to explain how the fraud occurred.
“Show us the fraud? Where is the fraud here,?” asked the defence lawyer.
“Your Honour on the 3rd of August I visited the lands offices in Kilifi where I got Certified copy of a lease document issued to Rafiki limited with effect from 1st of June 2022 .
This was for a period of 99 years and it indicated that the lease had been registered at the lands offices officially on the 19th October 2022 your honour,” he said.
Oduya said the documents the accused presented to the purchases were a free hold and there was a mismatch to what was being offered and what was available.
Asked by the defence lawyer if the foreigners had no authority to build and sell villas by way of leases he said they could do so but only on leasehold land and not free hold land like in the case of the land in question.
To him they were subleasing a lease they did not own at that time of the transaction was being done.
Obuya said on May 7 2021 the accused purported to be registering a sublease to a villa on a plot whose lease was formally registered on October 19 2022 which is almost one and a half years later.
“So when a client purport to sell or sublease what they don’t have at the time of the transaction your owner I believe that amount to fraud,” he said.
He said the villas they were purporting to sell to the first and second complainants at the time of entering the preliminary purchase agreement.
Furthemore, at the time of executing the lease and even after the full purchase was made existed on an irregular ownership documents.
On the issue of attempted bribery by the accused the DCI officers said there were attempts by the defence lawyer several times to try to compromise him.
“Counsel Kinyua crossed me severally as the investigating officer because the order stated that he had to come through the DCI .
I declined and I assure you he was holding a brown envelope,” he said.
Oduya said he reported the attempted bribery moves to his supervisors because he was not a position to make that decision.
One day he said he got a call from his supervisor to met him along the Malindi Mombasa highway and at that joint
He found Kinyua who had a brown envelope also but he declined and asked his superior to take the bribe if he wish.
“Later I was put in a very precarious position due to that action of refuting to take that money and was cajoled and reprimanded and as a juniors officer I must oblige,” he said.
That time Oduya said the defence lawyer succeeded but on the second time he decided to report the bribery attempts in court .
The two Italians are accused of obtaining Sh. 15 million from Girola Fiorenzo and Sh. 17 million from Rita Nappo
By pretending that they were in a position to sublease them houses at Rafiki Village in Watamu between 2018 and 2021.
The accused were charged that on various dates between August 30 2018 and August 1, 2019, at the Watamu area of Malindi Sub County within Kilifi County
With intent to defraud they jointly obtained Sh. 17 million from Rita Nappo by pretending that they were in a position to sublease her Villa no 5A.
The Villa was on a Plot of Land number Kilifi Jimba 1544 measuring approximately 0.327 hectares a fact they knew to be false.
In the second count, the two Italians were also charged that on various dates between March 21 2020 and February 24 2021 at the Watamu area of Malindi sub-county within Kilifi County with intent to defraud they obtained Sh. 15 million from Girola Fiorenzo by pretending that they were in a position to sublease her Villa number 4 B.
The Villa is reportedly located on plot number Kilifi Jimba 1544 measuring approximately 0.327 hectares a fact they knew to be false.
The prosecution closed the case with the fourth witness testimony and the court gave all parties to file written submissions within seven days.
He set the case for mention on March 31 2025 for the accused persons to know whether they have a case to answer or not.
