Former minister’s son charged with threatening to kill, extortion
A son of a former assistant minister charged with threatening to kill a prominent city businessman namely Chetan Babu Jamnadas Gohil alias CJ and extortion of Sh50m has been freed on a Sh1million bond.
Musaari Kahiga Syongoh, son to a former trade assistant minister Zaddock Syongoh who was accused of looking for an AK 47 riffle and ammunitions to execute Chetan was warned of dire consequences should he repeat the alleged death threats to the affluent businessman.
Chetans lawyer Ken Odera had told the court the businessman was fearing for his life and that Musaari had extorted Sh50million from the complainant through a convoluted matrix of a tax web.
Musaari, who unsuccessfully vied for the Langata parliamentary seat in the August 2022 polls, was warned of dire consequences should he continue threatening Chetan.
To ensure the order was taken seriously Milimani senior principal magistrate Zainab Abdul directed defence lawyer Moses Chelang’a to advice Musaari against taking the court warning lightly.
“Sit your client Musaari down and advise him not to play around with the bail terms. Should he threaten Chetan while out on bond, I will not hesitate to cancel it and remand him in prison custody until the case against him is heard and determined,” Ms Abdul told Chelang’a.
Ms Abdul directed state prosecutor Abel Omariba to supply Musaari who was charged alongside his personal assistant Alvin Nzomo Muthami with copies of witness statements to pre-pare for pre-trial directions.
In her ruling, Ms Abdul concurred with Chelang’a that no compelling reasons were advanced to warrant Musaari and Nzomo to be denied bond until Chetan testifies, since he had expressed fears for his life if the two will be freed on bond.
However, the magistrate noted the serious allegations that Musaari was in the process of acquiring an AK47 Rifle and ammunition to kill Chetan when crime detectives arrested him.
“This court notes with serious concern that Musaari was in the process of acquiring an AK47 Riffle when police pounced on him,” ruled Abdul.
She went to warn Musaari, whom Chelang’a said was a lead Consultant with Agency for Global Veracity and Growth (AGVG) which campaigns against corruption.
Ms Abdul said the pre-bail report was favourable to the accused.
“Relatives of Musaari spoke well about him and I will not hesitate to free him on bond plus Muthami,”Ms Abdul ruled.
Chetan is a former classmate to Musaari at St. Mary’s School Nairobi.
The court heard that Syongoh extorted the money while he posted as a senior NIS officer investigating serious crimes.
The son of the former assistant minister was charged with being in possession of five rolls of cannabis sativa (Bhang) valued at Ksh 250 at Karen police station.
Odera and Omariba had told the court the two accused persons will endanger the life of Chetan once freed on bond.
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