South Nyanza Sugar Company (Sony) has launched forensic investigations into claims lodged by unscrupulous lawyers in an attempt to defraud the miller of huge amounts of money through filing of fictitious cases.
The move comes as the office of the Auditor General raised the alarm that ongoing litigations risk costing the company a possible settlement amount of over Sh2 billion should the lawyers have their way.
According to Auditor General Nancy Gathungu, the 4,008 historical cases threaten stability of the debt-ridden State-owned miller.
“The company may be unable to settle the awards which may expose the assets to auction,” she cautioned in her annual report covering up to June 30, 2023.
But newly appointed Sony Sugar chief executive officer Martine Dima said more than half of the cases are fabricated by some rogue lawyers who used forged documents to file them in the name of dead persons and farmers without their knowledge and consent.
“Our interim report has established that some of the cases have either been dismissed, withdrawn, non-existent while some purported claimants are deceased,” he said.
In some instances, said Mr Dima, some law firms have engaged the services of auctioneers who often threaten and harass staff of the company and impound field vehicles to put pressure on us.
“Out of six impounded vehicles, three vehicles are still detained and we are forced to pay high storage fees at a time we are struggling to breathe new life into the company,” he said.
After his confirmation as a substantive MD in May this year, Mr Dima embarked on two parallel processes to audit and establish the authenticity of the cases last month and the outcome is expected to be out by the end of August.
“We have engaged private forensic investigators and the company’s legal clerks to visit law courts in Rongo, Kisii, Migori and Kisumu with a view to reconcile and establish the true position,” he said.
Mr Dima expressed optimism that the audit will knock down fake suits and lift the legal burden from the current 3,500 to less than 1,000 cases.
The suits that mainly include compensation for failure to harvest sugarcane on time and non-payment for deliveries, opens the lid on a complex fraud and embezzlement racket using forged documents by a number of law firms out to swindle the Awendo-based sugar miller.
The Sony Sugar boss, however, said cases eligible for payment will be subjected to the advocates’ roll of remuneration to ensure that the company does not overpay as the management prepares to put in place an elaborate plan to get the company out of the woods.
The recent move by Sony Sugar to pay Sh306 million farmers’ arrears up to June this year promises to restore its lost glory and reduce the waiting period to one month from the current six.
“This has restored the confidence of farmers and enhanced the supply of the primary raw material to the company,” Mr Dima said.
To restore the efficiency and productivity of the company, Mr Dima announced that the company will embark on a two-month factory maintenance after a 20-month’ break.
He said the miller has kicked off the procurement of items in readiness for the exercise to be conducted in October and November this year.
“We will import some parts and fabricate others as we look forward to reducing the frequent breakdowns and improving extraction rate of the sweetener,” said Mr Dima.
