Benson Sande Ndeta, the chairman of Savannah Clinker Company, will remain in custody until Monday after facing multiple fraud and forgery charges totaling Sh700 million.
Ndeta, who denied eleven charges including forgery and conspiracy to defraud, was remanded at Muthaiga police station pending a bond decision.
His lawyer, Cecile Miller, argued for lenient bail terms, emphasizing Ndeta’s status as a Kenyan citizen, family man, and property owner in Nairobi.
Miller also stated that the charges stemmed from a loan Ndeta secured from a bank and that he was not a flight risk.
Ndeta, along with co-accused Charles Hill Jr. (currently in the U.S.), is accused of fraudulently securing a $35 million loan (approximately Sh5 billion) from Absa Bank, using forged corporate guarantee documents.
The loan was intended for the expansion of Savannah Cement’s factory.
The charges are linked to a shift in shareholding at Savannah Cement, which led to boardroom disputes between directors Donald Mwaura Kiboro and John Gechanga, who became minority shareholders.
This dispute made it difficult for the company to function smoothly, as critical meetings and decisions could not be confirmed.
DCI investigations revealed that in November 2017, Kiboro transferred 300 shares in Savannah Heights to Hill’s company, Falcox Ventures Holdings LLC, for Sh700 million.
Initially, Savannah Cement was co-owned by Kenyan and Chinese investors, but following the Chinese exit in 2014, Ndeta became the majority shareholder.
Further investigations show that Ndeta and Hill executed forged documents to secure the loan from Barclays Bank, with Hill falsely posing as a director of Savannah Heights.
Additionally, Hill is accused of failing to honor a Sh700 million share purchase agreement with Kiboro, fueling further ownership disputes within the company.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has instructed the DCI to seek Hill’s extradition from the U.S. to face charges in Kenya.
