Son of Mombasa tycoon tells court his signature was forged in Sh1.5b fraud

Said Tahir, the son of the late Mombasa tycoon Tahir Sheikh Said (TSS), told the court that his signature was allegedly forged by five people who obtained a Sh1.5 billion loan from a bank.

Tahir told Mombasa Chief Magistrate Alex Ithuku on Monday that the five allegedly forged his signature to obtain the loan through TSS Fish Processing Company, which he co-owned with his late father.

He testified against his uncles, Aweys Mohamed and Zein Mohamed, and three others, James Mwangi, Zahir Abbas, and Victor Were, charged with conspiracy to defraud the TSS empire.

Were was the company secretary of the TSS conglomerate that has interests in fish processing, maize milling, transport, and real estate in Mombasa, Nairobi, and Lamu.

Mwangi was one of the managers of Cab Investment that secured a loan from KCB using TSS Fish Processing Company as the guarantor. The cab was owned by Tahir's uncles, Awes and Zein.

The firm was also co-owned by Tahir's brother, identified as Osman, who is the key prosecution witness against the five accused persons. Osman is an heir apparent to the TSS empire.

In his testimony, Tahir said that he learnt that his signature was forged from a DCI officer who was investigating the pilferage of the late TSS by a section of his relatives and employees. 

The five are charged with conspiracy to defraud TSS of Sh8.7 billion by way of filing a false share transfer and change of directorship of TSS's Juja Coffee Importers Limited.

According to the charge sheet, the accused approached the Registrar of Companies, pretending that TSSd had voluntarily released his shares to Ishar Tahir Sheikh Said.

They are also facing six charges of forgery, stealing, and handling stolen goods.

Tahir told the court that he was shown a document by the DCI on February 13, 2017, that indicated that he was a guarantor at Kenya Commercial Bank for an exorbitant amount.

“It was being claimed that I had guaranteed the loan to Cab Investment through my company TSS Fish Processing Company, which I co-owned with my late father, but after looking at the document, I realised that the signature was not mine,” Tahir told the court.

He said that the loan was to go to Cab Investment, owned by Aweys and Zein, who he confirmed are the late tycoon’s first wife’s cousins and are among the accused persons.

Tahir told court that his brother, Osman, was one of the shareholders of Cab Investment, and his wife was a director.

“Aweys used to work at the TSS grain millers and at the same time worked for Juja Coffee Importers Limited. Mwangi, the first accused person, was one of the managers of Cab Investment. Zein, Aweys’ brother, is also my uncle and is a director at Cab Investments. I knew Zahir, the fourth accused person, while he was at Imperial Bank and left the bank two or so years before they closed and came to TSS millers as the financial controller,” he said.