Companies ask DCI to investigate Absa over claims of fraudulent auctions
Two Kenyan companies have asked the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate Absa Bank Kenya over alleged irregular and fraudulent auctions of several high-value properties, claiming the sales were conducted through a flawed process involving newly registered companies and an auctioneer who allegedly emerged as a successful bidder.
Kimani Operations Limited and Kimani Ventures Limited lodged the complaint through lawyer Danstan Omari, urging detectives to investigate the conduct of the bank, Regent Auctioneers, Samatar Solutions Limited, Astralis Verge Limited and Fancy Friends Auctioneers.
The complaint allege that two companies that allegedly acquired the properties were incorporated just weeks before the disputed auction.
According to records from the Companies Registry, Samatar Solutions Limited was registered on June 2, 2025, while Astralis Verge Limited was incorporated on May 15, 2025.
The companies have urged investigators to examine the ownership, directorship, and funding sources of these entities, suggesting they may have been formed specifically to facilitate the contested transactions.
According to the complaint, one of the disputed auctions was scheduled for July 7, 2025, during the Saba Saba protests, when large parts of Nairobi were inaccessible due to demonstrations and police barricades.
The firms argue that a genuine public auction could not have taken place under those circumstances.
The complaint also raises concerns over an alleged conflict of interest involving Serah Njeri Wamwea, whom the firms identify as an auctioneer involved in the sale and one of the successful bidders.
They allege that Wamwea is the proprietor of Fancy Friends Auctioneers, whose offices are located at the same premises where the auction was advertised to take place.
The complaint further points to a second purported auction launched by Absa on July 30, 2025, concerning L.R. No. 36/11/350 in Eastleigh, Nairobi County.
The companies say the bank has failed to provide any satisfactory explanation as to why a second auction was necessary following the earlier alleged sale.
“The existence of successive auctions, coupled with the absence of genuine bidding and the involvement of recently incorporated companies, has raised substantial concerns regarding the legality and authenticity of the transactions, according to the complaint,” said Omari.
The dispute stems from loan facilities advanced to the companies between 2021 and 2022, secured by properties including the Twin Towers and an Eastleigh property, as well as other financial securities worth hundreds of millions of shillings.
Despite the disposal of some assets, the firms claim Absa Bank is still demanding approximately Sh394.9 million in outstanding debt.
They also allege that the bank or its agents began collecting rent from the properties after taking possession and that the assets were sold at grossly undervalued prices.
The directors of the two companies, Michael Kamau Kimani and Sarah Mwihaki, state in the complaint that they are elderly and depend on the disputed properties for their livelihood.
They further claim the bank continues to hold titles to other properties and has threatened additional sales.
There was no immediate comments from the bank.