SK Macharia Court Case: A Sh. 4 billion court fight involving the owner of Royal Media Services SK Macharia has taken a fresh twist. This is after the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji opposed Macharia’s bid to privately prosecute 14 directors of Directline Assurance Company Ltd.
Macharia had sought to institute private prosecution over the transfer of shares and cash worth Sh. 4 billion by Directline. However, the DPP has asked the court to dismiss the case and have Macharia institute it as a civil case against the directors of Directline.
DPP Haji has told the court that a review of evidence established that the dispute is a civil suit linked to ownership and directorship of Directline Assurance. “There was no criminal culpability on the part of those recommended for prosecution,” he said through senior prosecution counsel Celestine Oluoch. He also said that an inquiry conducted in 2019 relates to shareholding dispute that arose after the death of the main shareholder John Macharia, SK’s late son, through his company AKM Investment.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Paul Kihara refused to represent the Inspector General Hilary Mutyambai and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss George Kinoti in the case.
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Macharia’s application has been filed against Mutyambai, Kinoti, Kihara, and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji. In the court papers, Macharia and Directline Assurance Company accuse DPP Haji of declining to prosecute the 14 intended accused despite overwhelming evidence of criminal offences relating to shares and finances of the assurance company. The charges against the 14 intended accused relate to the handling of shares and finances at Directline Assurance company and criminal offences that date as far back as the year 2011. The 14 intended accused allegedly engaged in fraudulent transfer of shareholding and monies amounting to over Sh. 4 billion between the year 2012 and 2018.
“The 14 intended accused allegedly involved in fraudulent transfers of shares in Directline Assurance Company Limited by some of the directors now listed as the intended accused. The amount of money involved totals to over Sh. 4 billion between 2012 and 2018,” Macharia said in court papers.
The failure by the Attorney General’s office to represent its co-accused will be a departure from the past, where the office has been representing other critical government offices in legal matters. Macharia recently lost a court battle with his grandson over the control of a multi-billion estate that was left behind by his his late son Gichia.