English Point Marina director Nazir Jinnah has been fined Sh250,000 for impersonating a lawyer from the Khaminwa & Khaminwa Advocates.
But moments after Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego handed Mr Jinnah the fine, lawyer John Khaminwa, one of Kenya’s longest-serving and most respected advocates, sought to challenge the magistrate’s decision at the High Court.
Mr Jinnah has been convicted and sentenced for lying to Harbans Singh Birdi and Shirin Akberali Jiwa that he is an associate and partner at Khaminwa & Khaminwa Advocates.
The five counts against Mr Jinnah related to pretending to be Dr Khaminwa’s associate, conspiring to defraud Mr Birdi and unlawfully authoring sale documents for a prime piece of land in Nyari estate.
Mr Jinnah’s defence that Khaminwa & Khaminwa Advocates has never filed a complaint was not enough to get him off the hook.
Ms Alego went with the prosecution’s argument that in investigating Mr Birdi’s complaint to the DCI, investigating officers received a letter from Khaminwa & Khaminwa Advocates stating that Mr Jinnah is not a lawyer or associate at the firm.
The Law Society of Kenya, which also submitted arguments in the case, had pushed for a maximum sentence for impersonation, which would have seen Mr Jinnah spend five years in jail.
Ms Alego on Thursday, however, ruled that Mr Jinnah had the option of spending 18 months in prison or paying Sh50,000 for each of the five counts he was convicted of.
“The prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that you falsely pretended to be an Associate of Khaminwa & Khaminwa Advocates with intent to defraud Harbas Singh Birdi between 2013 and 2017,” ruled Ms Alego.
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