Director on Trial for Stealing Ksh.365M From His Own Company

Published By The Statesman For The Statesman Digital
2 hours ago

The trial of a company director accused of stealing more than Ksh.356 million from his own firm kicked off on Thursday before Milimani Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego.

Testifying in court Deepak Rajoriya was put to task by advocate Conrard Maloba to explain how the accused stole Ksh.365M

In response, the complainant told the court that he only had WhatsApp chats and the audit report as his personal knowledge of how the accused stole the money.

Deepak Rajoriya, the director of OKI limited company told magistrate Dolphina Alego that OKI General Trading Limited, was registered in Kenya in 2013, and deals in food, home appliances, and electronics imported from India, China, and Turkey.

He acknowledged that he was an employee of the company’s Dubai branch until January 2025 when he was appointed as director — months after the alleged fraud had taken place.

Advocate Maloba put the complainant to task to explain whether the company has been filing annual returns to KRA.

In response he told the court that the offence was committed when he was not the director.

“The offence was committed when I was not in the company. The only evidence I have is from the audit report. I am not aware whether they filed returns,” he testified.

Rajoriya added that the company raised the alarm over missing funds, prompting auditors to investigate. Their report revealed that more than Ksh.356 million had been siphoned from the business.

"There was misappropriation of funds in the company and we hired an auditor. Whatever documents requested by the auditor we provided them. There was no timeline ,it was between 2021 to 2024.The auditor furnished us with the report," court heard.

The court further heard that Khatwani resigned as a director on July 16, 2024, shortly after the discrepancies were flagged. He is accused of secretly registering his own business in September 2022 and diverting company money into his personal and business accounts, while also directing transfers via M-Pesa to his wife.

Honey Khatwani, a director at OKI General Trading Limited, is alleged to have stolen $2,786,174.40 (about Ksh.356,711,174.40) between January 2020 and June 2024 in Nairobi.

He said employees who executed the transactions have been lined up as witnesses in the case.