The High Court has declined to order a company and its proprietor to pay its shareholders Sh107 million without giving them a chance to reply to a case filed against them.
The 106 investors had asked the court to compel Inter-Web Global Fortune Limited and its owner Manases Kuria Karanja to pay them accusing the two of intentionally refusing to reply to their case.
Justice Alfred Mabeya on Wednesday ruled it would be premature to have Inter-Web and Kuria pay money. He said the firm and its owner deserve a chance to tell their side of the story.
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The investors who later turned victims, in their application, accused Inter-Web and Kuria of failing to reply to the case within the timelines set by the court.
“No judgment can be entered on the basis of the request for judgment dated December 15, 2020, or the present application. Both were made prematurely. They could only have been validly made after January 14, 2021, which is not the case,” Justice Mabeya ruled.
Kuria told court he was not aware of the case.
He complained that the operations of his company were stopped by the police in September last year and had been arrested several times.
Kuria said the same parties who have sued him are in the criminal case he is facing meaning they were all along aware of his whereabouts.
The case involves 106 Kenyans who are seeking to recover their investments and accrued interests from the firm. They include Beatrice Kimuna who invested Sh1.8 million in the firm.
Like many other Kenyans keen to make a profit, Kimuna was looking for opportunities to invest her savings. However, many organisations, including Saccos, could not match the rates Inter-Web Global offered.
With an average Sacco offering between seven per cent and 10 per cent return on savings annually, high interests in an online trading deal, with a promise of 240 per cent return, was irresistible for anyone who heard about the company.
Ms Kimuna invested her Sh1.8 million hoping the firm, which allegedly traded in currencies online, would pay back her investment at a rate of 20 per cent per month on the principal amount.
Further, she had a guarantee that after 12 months, at the end of the deal between her and Kuria’s firm, she would have a full refund of her money.
She joined the forex deal on May 5, 2019 anticipating to get Sh370,000 each month from her investment. Inter-Web paid her Sh449,000 for June and partly July and stopped.
Kimuna is now chasing after Sh5.8 million which is the total amount she would have earned at the end of the one-year contract and the principal sum.
The litigants cumulatively invested Sh36 million. They would have been paid a total of Sh107 million.
Another victim, Victoria Kiplagat, put in Sh1 million hoping to get her money back plus interest. In total, she would have earned Sh3.2 million.
The whole plan started well. Some investors even went as far as referring their friends and relatives to the scheme.
Kiplagat signed the deal in August 2019 and it was to end this year. She only got Sh200,000 for that month and that was it.
The litigants now say the did not know Inter-Web Global did not have a license to run a forex trading business. They all came to know about the scam when Kuria was charged in court.
According to court documents, the Kuria did not reveal to his would-be victims he was running an illegal business.
Davis Mwakazi invested Sh600,000 and is now pursuing some Sh1.2 million from Kuria and his company.
Daniel Njuguna, on the other hand, invested Sh420,000 with the hope of getting Sh84,000 each month. He was only paid once.
At a glance
106 litigants want the court to force Inter-Web Global and Kuria to pay Sh107 million
– They were promised a Sh240 per cent return on their investment
– They claim Kuria hid from them that he was running an illegal entity
– All of them came to learn about it when he was charged
– Beatrice Kimuna invested Sh1.8
– Umazi Runya had Sh1.2 million
– Nekesa Misiko had Sh1.2 million
– Victoria Kiplagat put in Sh1 million
– Davis Mwakazi gave Sh600,000
– Daniel Njuguna invested Sh400,000
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