Former Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) Director General Daniel Kiptoo has moved to court to challenge plans to charge him with forgery over the shareholding of a family-owned company.
In a case set for hearing on Friday before the High Court in Kiambu, Mr Kiptoo argues that the intended prosecution is not aimed at addressing a criminal justice concern but is an attempt to use criminal proceedings to achieve what his half-brother, Dr Victor Kipkemei Bargoria, allegedly failed to obtain through administrative and civil proceedings.
Mr Kiptoo has named the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Dr Kipkemei as respondents.
He says a commercial dispute involving Siokwei Tarita Limited (STL) is pending in court, while a succession case before the Family Division of the High Court is expected to determine how shares belonging to their late father, Barnabas Tuitoek Bargoria, will be distributed.
The dispute centres on STL, a real estate company founded in 1984 by Mr Bargoria, who died in November 2020. At the time, he and his second wife, Rebecca, were the company’s shareholders and directors. STL owns a commercial building in Eldoret and is the parent company of Tarita Trocadero Limited, incorporated in 2019 as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Dr Kipkemei alleges that Mr Kiptoo forged their late father’s signature and manipulated company records to alter STL’s shareholding and directorship. He claims Mr Kiptoo used fraudulent minutes of a February 2, 2011 meeting to approve the allotment of 800 shares to himself.
Dr Kipkemei further alleges that, after their father’s death, Mr Kiptoo and Rebecca purported to pass a resolution making themselves the sole signatories to STL’s bank accounts.
Mr Kiptoo disputes the allegations and says the changes made in 2011 were legitimate. He argues that his mother has already confirmed to the Registrar of Companies that she and their late father voluntarily made the changes.
According to Mr Kiptoo, the appointments of directors and allotment of shares were carried out when his parents were the only shareholders and that they voluntarily introduced the subsequent directors, including Dr Kipkemei.
He says Dr Kipkemei accepted his appointment, participated in the company’s affairs for about a decade and did not challenge the company register during their father’s lifetime.
“It is only after the death of the Petitioner’s father in 2021 that the 2nd interested party (Dr Kipkemei) alleged, for the first time, that the deceased’s signatures had been forged in documents executed in 2011,” court papers state.
Mr Kiptoo says the Registrar of Companies investigated the complaint and, in a November 23, 2021 letter, found that the appointment of directors and allotment of shares were regular corporate acts.
He also says Dr Kipkemei subsequently filed a succession case seeking declarations similar to those he had pursued before the Registrar, but that the applications were allegedly dismissed.
The DPP initially directed the DCI on October 25, 2024 to charge Mr Kiptoo with forgery contrary to Section 351 of the Penal Code. However, on December 4, 2024, the DPP wrote to the DCI referring to new information and directed investigators not to proceed with the charges, recalling the file for further directions.
Mr Kiptoo says the investigations were conducted unfairly and that he has not been given an opportunity to present an expert forensic report. He also faults investigators for failing to record a statement from Rebecca, whom he says is willing and able to explain the circumstances surrounding the disputed shareholding changes.
He is seeking orders stopping his arrest, detention, charging or prosecution over the disputed company records pending determination of his case.
