Former Nairobi Provincial Commissioner David Nathan Chelogoi was sentenced to 14 years in prison over a fraudulent attempt to acquire a 7.39-hectare parcel of land in Lower Kabete, Nairobi, valued at Ksh1.35 billion.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego found Chelogoi guilty of six offences arising from a scheme to fraudulently acquire land parcel Nairobi/Block/80/44 belonging to businessmen Ashok Rupshi Shah and Hitenkumar Amritlal Raja.
The court handed him two years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to defraud, two years for forcible detainer, three years for each of two forgery counts, three years for uttering a forged document and one year for procuring registration of land through false pretences.
However, the sentences will run concurrently, meaning Chelogoi will serve an effective prison term of 14 years.
In her judgment, Alego established that Chelogoi forged a letter of allotment dated January 31, 1995, purportedly issued by the Commissioner of Lands, to support his claim of ownership of the disputed property.
The court further found that on October 11, 2023, at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters along Kiambu Road, Chelogoi knowingly presented forged documents in an attempt to substantiate his ownership claim.
The documents included the purported letter of allotment and a certificate bearing a forged signature and stamp impression attributed to Land Registrar Paul Achieng Pesa.
The documents were presented as genuine records to support his claim and dealings in the property.
In a further order aimed at protecting the legitimate ownership of the land, the magistrate directed the Land Registrar to cancel any parallel title or registration issued in respect of the parcel, affirming the ownership rights of Shah and Raja.
The prosecution called 19 witnesses and relied on documentary and expert evidence to establish the six charges against the former provincial administrator.
The case was prosecuted by Sonia Njoki, Hillary Isiaho and James Murage on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The conviction and sentence mark the conclusion of a high-value land fraud case involving one of Nairobi’s prime properties.
