The battle for the late Lawrence Nginyo Kariuki’s wealth has taken a different turn after the High Court declared that his children had appropriated part of his assets before receiving permission to manage the estate.
This is after Margaret Wangari Nginyo and some of her six children, including Jane Alice Wambui Kiragu and Silas Macharia Kariuki, withdrew more than Sh70 million from the deceased’s bank accounts at I&M Bank and Consolidated Bank of Kenya.
Justice Stella Mutuku said the transactions were illegal because the will has been contested, exposing the three to potential legal action.
“Without authority to support their actions, I am constrained to make a finding that the acts by the executors or respondents in dealing with the estate as they did, amounts to intermeddling in the estate of the deceased,” the judge said.
According to Mutuku, there was nothing standing in the way of the respondents to move to court to seek the authority they required to deal with the estate of the deceased as they waited for the contested issues to be resolved.
Justice Mutuku ordered the three to account for the money they had withdrawn from bank accounts of the estate or return the cash.
Additionally, she also ordered a forensic audit of all the assets Kariuki left behind.
“That failure to account as ordered… the respondents shall refund to the estate all and any of the proceeds they have withdrawn from the deceased’s accounts and or misappropriated from the entire estate,” say the orders.
James Anthony Kariuki accused his mother and three siblings of jointly transferring cash to their personal accounts.
“Unless the honourable court intervenes by granting the petition, the estate shall lose income from the rental properties, which may well quickly fall into a state of disrepair and the assets (including money) belonging to the companies be plundered to the great detriment of the estate of the deceased,” he said in his application.
He told the court that his mother and siblings Silas Macharia Kariuki, Scholastica Njeri Kariuki and Jane Wambui Kariuki had so far liquidated a total of Sh71 million in fixed deposit accounts of Pema Holdings Limited at I&M Bank.
Kariuki died on February 24, 2020, leaving behind an estate worth more than Sh4 billion in dispute.
His wealth includes real estate, farming, bank deposits and government bonds.
Documents obtained from the courts showed he had land and buildings in Nairobi, Kiambu and Ngong valued at a total of Sh3.2 billion, the most famous of his property being Nginyo Towers in Nairobi’s Central Business District.
He also owned a 120-acre tea and coffee farm in Tigoni, Kiambu County whose expenses amount to Sh1.7 million per month.
He also owned Nginyo Investments and Pema Holdings, which have assets of Sh221.3 million.
He had also invested Sh84.1 million in government bonds generating an annual interest income of Sh9.4 million.
Kariuki owned shares in a few Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firms such as East African Breweries Limited (EABL) with a market value of more than Sh10 million.
He owned several luxury cars and farm machinery valued at Sh33.1 million, including a Toyota Landcruiser and Mercedes Benz.
Kariuki had a long history in politics, back in 2000, he founded the The National Alliance (TNA) party.