The courts have halted the prosecution of businessman Jimi Wanjigi who was arrested on Tuesday, January 18, 2022.

The Wednesday ruling suspended Wanjigi’s prosecution until February 9, to verify an order that had stopped his arrest.

The businessman was arraigned in court after spending Tuesday night at the Kamukunji Police Station after he was arrested over fraud claims.

Wanjigi was arrested after a siege that lasted 20 hours at his Kwacha House office in Westlands, Nairobi.

At the station, Jimi Wanjigi addressed the press while handcuffed, waiting for his fingerprints to be registered and a file on his charges to be open.

Wanjigi said that the plot of land was bought by his wife’s company and was not a shareholder in the firm.

He said that he and his wife were the victims of attempted land fraud but the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had turned them into culprits.

The billionaire also added that his arrest had nothing to do with the property but his interest in the August 2022 General Election.

“Why is it that in every election it is Jimi who is sought; 2017 I was being looked for, 2022 now…in between there is no problem,” he wondered.

“What you are witnessing today is the height of impunity…complete height of impunity on top of persecution,” Wanjigi added.

DCI Investigation File

According to authorities, the property LR No 1870/II/200 is owned by Wanjigi and his wife through their firm Aerum Ltd; Cissy Kalunde Musembi, a businesswoman; and Horizon Hills Ltd.

On May 28, 2019, Aerum attempted to sell the land to, a company managed by businessman Yogesh Patel, for Sh260 million.

“The title deed in question was never issued by the government. The suspects only come together with intentions to forge a title with the intention to defraud Kenroid Ltd,” reads an investigation file by DCI George Kinoti.

Velji, who claimed to have received the land through a government allocation in 1997, reportedly had no documentation to indicate how the state had given him the property, according to inquiries.

Investigations have now shown that Dhodia Foam Ltd was the original owner.

The property’s transfer paperwork reveals that it was valued on January 21, 2007, a day when government offices are closed to the public.

“It is unusual and unheard of for government valuation of a property to be done on a Sunday and well after the registration of a transfer in respect to that property,” the investigation file read.