City widow charged with killing husband fights to keep his Sh700m empire
A row over the administration of a Sh700 million business empire of a deceased businessman will be resolved by the high court.
The case between the two brothers of entrepreneur Yogesh Sapra, who died in 2005, and their sister-in-law — who is charged with killing her husband — will be determined by the family division of the High Court.
The dispute was referred to Justice Aggrey Muchelule by a magistrate to determine whether Mr Kuldip Sapra and Mr Ashman Sapra will be confirmed as the administrators of the estate of their deceased brother, Yogesh.
IRREGULAR ORDERS
A move by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to institute criminal proceedings against Kuldip and Ashman was dismissed by Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi. “A succession court has inherent powers to correct any irregular orders issued over the estate of the late Yogesh,” the magistrate ruled.
“The high court handling the succession has inherent powers to revoke any letters of grant issued to Kuldip and his brother Ashman if it is established that unorthodox means were used to acquire them.”
Mr Andayi said the move by the DPP to commence a criminal case against Mr Kuldip and Mr Ashman was malicious as there was a pending succession case over the same issues pending at the high court, which the DPP was aware about.
The two brothers had opposed a criminal case filed against them by their sister-in-law, Dr Nisha Sapra.
The court upheld their objection, saying there was no criminal culpability that can be inferred on the two brothers. He rejected the charges of conspiracy to defraud, saying Section 89 of the Criminal Procedure Code allows him to terminate the case, which he did.
BONA FIDE ADMINISTRATORS
The brothers had been accused of attempting to acquire several properties from Dr Sapra — the beneficiary of her husband’s estate — by falsely pretending that they were the bona fide administrators of the estate of their late brother.
The properties include half an hectare of land at Lower Kabete Nairobi; a house in Lower Kabete; a house in Brookside Gardens; an apartment in Nyali Estate in Mombasa; shares at the Kenya Airways Limited; Mt Kenya Sundries Retail Shop at Hilton Hotel in Nairobi; Maya Duty Free Shops at JKIA; Sapra Investment Limited; and Green Gems Limited, all valued Sh700 million.
Mr Andayi said he could not conduct a parallel trial.