Revoke Sh6.2m payout to pyramid scheme-linked firm
A property developer wants the Court of Appeal to determine whether it is right for them to pay Sh6.2 million to someone they suspect could be part of a controversial pyramid scheme.
Warmwell Ltd director Vijaykumar Shamji Patel said his firm was dissatisfied with a High Court order directing it to pay Sh4 million plus costs to the individual.
Spell Investments was adversely mentioned in the case of a pyramid schemes suspected to have fleeced Kenyans of millions.
The court had been told that Mr Patel was selling a warehouse, off Old North Airport Road in Embakasi, for Sh4 million in 2007.
His lawyer Robert Asembo informed him that he had a client willing to buy the property.
“The money was paid to me in full by Spell Investments Ltd. We then pursued in vain to have the sale agreement signed and the transfer completed.”
In an unexpected turn of events, the lawyer cancelled the sale and asked for a refund, but the company was suspicious and told him to produce the buyer.
“Unfortunately, he refused to avail the person, but asked for the refund to be given to him,” said Mr Shamji, adding that they disputed the request and were only willing to refund the money to Spell Investments Ltd, which had paid for the warehouse.
In March 2009, the advocate’s father, Mr Sebastian Asembo Opaka, sued the firm at the High Court claiming the money spent was his and asking for the refund.
“We later established that the advocate and his father had all along been using us to launder money acquired through one of the illegal pyramid schemes that rocked Nairobi in 2006 and 2007,” said Mr Patel.