A Nairobi court has ordered a suspect alleged to have conspired (with a friend) to defraud a businessman of land valued at Ksh150 million ($1.159 million) in Westlands, Nairobi, to be taken to Mbagathi Hospital for treatment before pleading to charges.

Milimani Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo ordered the suspect, John Kigomo Mwaura, to be taken to Mbagathi Hospital for treatment before pleading to the charges fraud.

Mwaura appeared in court under warrant of arrest issued following his failure to attend court after going into – allegedly – hiding.

The officer investigating the matter told the court that the suspect was arrested in Utawala by Directorate of Criminal Instigations (DCI) officers after months of tracking him after he vanished from his known residence.

When he took to the dock, Mwaura pleaded with the court to take him for treatment since he was sick,

“Your honour, I was not aware of this case since I had been communicating with my lawyer and he had been telling me that all is well. I have been undergoing treatment at Rhodes and Mama Lucy Hospitals (in Nairobi) and I will provide the documents as proof,” he told the court.

The prosecution did not oppose the application for him to be escorted by the Officer Investigating the matter for treatment.

Mwaura and his co-accused Abdisalan Adan Hussein have allegedly been in hiding for months to escape facing charges of conspiracy to defraud, forgery, use of forged documents, creating documents without legal authority and obtaining land registration by pretence.

Hussein is yet to be arrested and he is still missing.

The said land measuring approximately 0.1178 hectares and valued at Ksh150 million is located in Westland area of the capital, Nairobi, in Nairobi County.

The land is the property of Sabahatt Shokatali Habib and Sadaff Shokatali Habib.

The plea-taking was adjourned to May 18, 2026.

• A Tell Media report / By Elizabeth Were