Businessman Yagnesh Devani has been remanded at Kilimani police station where he will spend the night until Wednesday morning when he is expected to plead to graft charges about the Triton oil scandal.
Devani was arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court following a warrant of arrest issued in 2009.
However, Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzyuki declined to grant him bond pending the charges on Wednesday.
“In the interest of fair administration of justice, I find it not appropriate to release him on bond, especially after he was brought to court with a warrant,” the magistrate ruled.
Devani is expected to be charged afresh in relation to the Triton case.
The DPP told the court that they intend to file new charges against Devani so that they don’t interfere with the case of the other accused persons namely Mahindra Pathak, Julius Kyalo Kilonzo, and Collin Otieno which is at its tail end.
That case has been proceeding but in the absence of Devani after he fled the country to the UK to avoid prosecution
While seeking to try Devani separately, the DPP through state prosecutor Jeremiah Wakusara informed the court that the case against his co-accused person is at the stage of filling submissions on a case to answer after the prosecution closed its case in the matter.
“In matter, Devani has been on the run and a warrant of arrest was issued in September 2009 leading to the government of Kenya initiating extradition proceedings to bring back Devani from the United Kingdom to face charges leveled against him,” Wakusara stated.
The court heard that all the cases where he was challenging his extradition were dismissed by the Apex Court in the United Kingdom vide Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for Home Department vs. Yagnesh Mohanlal Devani (2020) EWCA Civ 612 through a judgment delivered on May 7, 2020.
After 15 years of remaining a fugitive, Devani was extradited on January 23 2024 to Kenya and charged in Milimani CMCR Case Number E072 of 2024 together with his company Triton
” If the court can allow we can file the charges against Devani and have him plead to the charges tomorrow(Wednesday),” the prosecutor added
But Devani through his lawyer Hillary Kiplagat did not oppose the request to have him charged today but requested to be released on bail, a request that was declined by the court and remanded at Kilimani police station ahead of his plea-taking at 9 am this morning.
Kiplagat told the court that after Devani came back to Kenya in January this year he was charged on January 30 with another Sh 1.5 billion fraud case involving the Kipevu jet oil scam and is out on bail of Sh 1 million.
The Triton Scandal was allegedly carried out by Devani’s company, Triton Petroleum Limited.
Devani’s company, of which he was the executive chairman, had won a lucrative tender to supply oil under a system designed to assist local oil companies.
The scandal surfaced in 2008 when Devani’s company was implicated in the fraudulent disposal of oil products, leading to a loss of approximately Sh 7.6 billion (about $70 million) to various banks and investors, including Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Fortis Bank.
The core of the scandal revolved around Devani’s company being granted access to oil reserves stored at the Kenya Pipeline Company’s facilities without the necessary approvals.
The case involved charges of conspiring to defraud a number of petroleum companies by purporting that Triton had diesel ready for sale at KPC storage in Kipevu.
