Pastor Ng’ang’a seeks out of court settlement in fraud case
By Richard MangutiA bid by Apostle James Ng’ang’a to set an Sh3.6 million fraud case out of court has hit a snag.
This is after Milimani Law Courts senior principal magistrate David Ndungi turned down a plea by the Neno Evangelism Church preacher to permit his accuser to withdraw the complaint with a view to terminating criminal liability.
Ng’ang’a’s lawyer informed the magistrate an arrangement had been struck between the preacher and the complainant, one Wickson Njoroge who alleges to have lost the money in a rent deal gone sour.
Njoroge says he lost the millions to the pastor at his city office.
The pastor’s lawyer informed the magistrate that “the parties have agreed to settle the matter out of court and Mr Mwathe is ready to be to explain the agreement.”
But the magistrate asked the defence lawyer whether they have approached the office of the director of public prosecutions with the proposal.
The defence attorney responded in the negative with the prosecuting counsel Mr Abel Omariba saying he is not privy to the arrangement.
At that juncture, Mr Ndungi informed the accused that any move to settle the case which was commenced by the DPP must be mooted by his office.
“There is no way an accused person or a complainant can ask a court to terminate a case when the DPP is not aware,” Mr Ndungi stated.
He further asked Ng’ang’a, Njoroge and the defence counsel to approach the DPP’s office then float the idea of wishing to have the case settled out of court and the criminal charges against the evangelist withdrawn.
The magistrate directed the case to be mentioned on October 14, 2021, for Pastor Ng’ang’a and his lawyer to give details of the settlement through the prosecutor.
The preacher was charged after the high court declined to bar the DPP from prosecuting him.
He had asked the high court to block the criminal case against him saying it stemmed from a commercial transaction.
Pastor Ng’ang’a has denied obtaining Sh3,600,000 from Njoroge through the pretext that he was in a position to lease to him a residential premise at the upmarket Karen Estate, Nairobi.
The prosecution says Apostle Ng’ang’a committed the offence on April 6, 2016 at the Neno Evangelism Church Office along Haile Selassie Avenue, Nairobi.
The man of God is out on bail.