Man faces charges of fraudulently selling Mombasa tycoon's Sh400m land

A nephew of the late Mombasa tycoon Jaswant Dhanjal has been accused of fraudulently selling a prime piece of land valued at Sh400 million that was to be shared among his five cousins.

Joginder Singh Dhanjal is accused of selling eight parcels of land in Mombasa Business District that were part of the tycoon's multi-billion-dollar estate.

The late Jaswant’s estate has been the subject of a protracted dispute between his three sons and nephews.

The tycoon and his three brothers, Dalip Singh Dhanjal, Narinder Singh Dhanjal and Baldev Singh Dhanjal, had shares in companies that owned several properties in common.

Their siblings Jaspal Kaur Nagi, Sukhwant Kaur Kindi, Surjit Singh, Jaswant Dhanjal and Daljit Singh Dhanjal inherited the properties.

It is alleged that on diverse dates between May 19, 2019, and July 8, 2019, Joginder conspired to defraud Jaypee and Sons Limited of eight parcels of land valued at Sh400 million.

According to court papers, Joginder allegedly subdivided the said parcels that are subject to distribution among the five sons of the late billionaire.

He is accused of subdividing and registering the said parcels into 20 more parallel title deeds while purporting they are genuine and valid subdivisions and title deeds.

Joginder also faces another charge of pretending to be the sole director of Ms Jaypee and Sons Limited and purporting the titles were genuine.

On October 9, 2020, Justice Mugure Thande ordered the expeditious distribution of the estate of Jaswant among his five children, in a protracted succession dispute that has lasted more than two decades.

Justice Thande ordered the administrators of Jaswant’s estate to distribute the 22 listed properties among the rightful beneficiaries.

Among the properties are tourist hotels, residential properties and trading companies.

The judge noted that since the demise of Jaswant on October 26, 2004, and the issuance of the initial and subsequent grants, the estate is yet to be distributed to the beneficiaries.

On Tuesday, Joginder failed to appear in court to plead to the charges of fraud after falling ill and getting a seven-day bed rest.

Joginder’s lawyer, Dan Ondego, applied for the plea to be deferred until September 4.

“There is a recommendation by his doctor from Zahir Health Care, and he has been given bed rest for seven days. We seek the court to defer the plea for seven days,” said Ondego.

Senior Prosecution Counsel Barbara Sombo said there was no objection to having Joginder charged on a later date.

The family lawyer, Dr Fredrick Aoko, said he applied to have Senior Resident Magistrate David Odhiambo declare the parcels a crime scene and order the vacation of anyone working on the said parcels and the police to man the parcels.

The lawyer said that those who are not before the court might interfere with the property. Dr Aoko said that they will apply for the court to visit the scene.

“The subject matter is fraud. We seek the court to declare the piece of land a scene of crime and ask the court to preserve the property because we intend to make an application to visit the scene, and any activity ongoing is a fraud,” said Dr Aoko.

However, Ondego, who applied in opposition to the oral application, asked the court to allow for more time for a formal application and have him seek instructions from his client.

“I will be constrained to the application since it is a serious application by the parties, and it touches on a third party. Let him make the formal application, and we also hear the third parties,” said Ondego.

Odhiambo allowed for a formal application and had Joginder take a plea on September 4, 2025.

The magistrate deferred the plea to September 4, 2025.