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Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Anne Amadi has been dragged into a fake gold scam case after a British man sued her for defrauding him of more than Sh102 million.
Demetrow Bradshaw claims he paid Amadi, through her law firm, $742,206 (Sh102,090,435) for the supply of 1,500 kilogrammes of gold bars but it turned out to be hot air.
He says he lost the money and never received the gold consignment.
"She is among those who orchestrated a fraudulent scheme to obtain money by false pretence through her law firm Amadi and Associates Advocates. They received the funds and hurriedly withdrew them in cash without adequate supporting documentation," swore Bradshaw.
As a result of his complaints, Justice David Majanja issued an order freezing Amadi's accounts, those of her son Brian Ochieng Amadi and their four associates who the businessman claimed had colluded to defraud him of his cash.
Justice Majanja also froze two accounts at ABC Bank belonging to Amadi and Associates Advocates and directed that they should not withdraw any funds without express permission from the court.
"Pending the hearing and determination of the suit, the court also issues an order that the personal bank accounts belonging to Amadi, her son and the other two respondents be frozen. They should not withdraw any amount from the accounts without the court's permission," ruled Majanja.
Bradshaw through his company Bruton Gold Trading LLC sued Amadi, her son, lawyer Andrew Kiarie, lawyer Adrian Topoti, businessman Daniel Kangara alias Dan Muriithi and Liberian national Edward Taylor alias Mboronda Seyenkulo Sakor.
1,500kg of gold
He filed the suit through lawyer Murage Juma claiming that in September 2021, his company was interested in buying gold from Kenya when Taylor introduced him to Kangara as a person dealing in gold export.
They then signed an agreement in which Kangara would deliver the 1,500kg of gold to his company in Dubai upon payment of the agreed purchase price of $742,206 (Sh102,090,435).
"On the understanding that Kangara could deliver the gold consignment through his company Universal Global Logistics Limited, Bradshaw entered into the transaction where he was represented by the law firm of Amadi and Associates Advocates," said Juma.
He told the court that between September 22, 2021 and October 21, 2021, the Briton sent the first instalment totalling $592,970 (Sh81,563,023) to Amadi's law firm and completed the balance of $149,236 (Sh20,527,411) in November the same year.
After making the payments to Amadi and Associates Advocates, Bradshaw swore that he received six documents from Kangara to show that he had dispatched the gold to Dubai only to discover that they were false and fraudulent documents.
"When he inquired why the gold consignment was not on the flight to Dubai, he was told that the consignment had been taken off the plane as there were some more payments to be made," said Juma.
When the Briton insisted on getting his gold, he was informed by Kangara and Taylor that his company Bruton Gold Trading LLC had been sued before the High Court and a court order issued blocking the transfer of gold to him.
Alarmed that he would lose all the money and the gold, Bradshaw reported the matter to Director of Crimnal Investigation who discovered that as soon he deposited the money into Amadi's law firm accounts, it was withdrawn by Kiarie and Topoti.
He stated that after learning of the investigations, Amadi's son (Brian) and Kiarie requested for a meeting with the Briton's lawyer after which they came up with a proposal to return the money.
Clear the balance
"On May 10 2022, Amadi's law firm wrote to the plaintiff's advocates and attached two cheques worth $9,000 (Sh1,237,950) as a commitment towards resolving the matter," said Juma.
He stated that after the meeting, Amadi called the Briton's lawyer and made a proposal to clear the balance in six months which were rejected on account that she had not proposed any security.
He added that since the defendants had failed to make any further commitment on repaying his money, he wants the court to order them to deposit the funds within 14 days so that he gets back his money.
Justice Majanja directed the named respondents to reply to the suit within three days and scheduled the hearing on May 23.
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