Lawyers Representing Businessman In Legal Battle With Rwandese In Trouble Over Irregularities

• Rwandese investor Desire Muhinyuza accused Kenyan businessman Karimi Koome's lawyers of lying to the court
• Koome's lawyers are accused of fraudulently obtaining consent from the court to be paid KSh 74 million in legal fees
• Desire's lawyer, Danstan Omari, said he would write to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to probe the matter

Amos Khaemba, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

Nairobi - Advocates representing Kenyan businessman Karimi Koome, who is at the centre of a vicious court battle with a Rwandan investor, are in trouble.

This is after they were accused of fraudulently obtaining consent from the court to be paid KSh 74 million in legal fees when they knew the ownership dispute was still in court.

In court papers filed in court, Rwandese investor Desire Muhinyuza, through his lawyer Danstan Omari, claims that the consent was stage-managed by lawyers Omwanza Nyamweya and Ivy Ateko Ingati alongside Raphael Olwako on behalf of StayOnline, the business in dispute.

Omari wants the court to review the consent order, informing the court that Olwako is not the director of the company in question and that it was all a scheme to unlawfully withdraw the money held by the company under the guise of legal fees.

According to court papers, Omwanza and Ateko failed to disclose to the court that there were proceedings active in court on the ownership dispute between Desire and Koome.

On Wednesday, December 27, Justice Alfred Mabeya issued a landmark ruling declaring Desire as the bona fide beneficial owner of StayOnline Ltd.

However, the consent filed by the lawyers has impeded the implementation of the orders and further jeopardised the funds held at UBA Bank.

“The impugned consent order was obtained without the lawyers making material disclosure to the court as to the status of StayOnline Ltd and that these proceedings were commenced in bad faith with the ill intention of unlawfully utilising funds amounting to Sh 74,300,00 held in Stayonline’s bank accounts at UBA,” reads the court papers.

Omari says the fraudulent consent has prejudiced the running of his client’s company and its relationship with business merchants whose funds are held by Stayonline in trust.

In the said application, Omari has also filed a notice of appointment with StayOnline, appointing his law firm Danstan Omari and associates to represent them in court.

When contacted, Omari said that what the lawyers and Koome were trying to do was criminal, and he had instructions to write to the Director of Public Prosecution and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate, arrest, and charge the advocates with conspiracy and attempt to steal company money.

Koome is currently battling criminal charges where he was charged with conspiring to defraud Muhinyuza of $2,619,583.27, (KSh 400 million) merchant funds, by falsely representing himself as the owner of the said funds.

The offences were committed on diverse dates between July 10 and October 4, 2023, in Nairobi jointly with others, not before the court, and with intent to defraud.

Koome is also accused of stealing KSh 14,945,000 (USD 100,000) in Stay Online Limited property that was entrusted to him to pay provisional taxes for the company.

He is also charged with making a false entry in a document for a payment of USD 100,000 (KSh 14 million) to his Equity Bank USD account and providing false documents.