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A Milimani law court has issued summonses to Derrick Cornelius Van Houten, former chief executive officer of Java, and the current group chief executive officer of Bottomline company, to appear in court and enter a plea on the 2nd of April.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina issued the summonses after the accused persons failed to appear in court on Tuesday, allegedly due to illness.
According to the suspect’s lawyer, Mr. Derrick felt sick and was recommended bed rest for a period of five days by a doctor.
Despite objections to deferring the plea, both the Director of Public Prosecutions and the lawyer representing the complainant narrated to the court the circumstances surrounding the suspect’s arrest before he was released on a police bond of Ksh 50,000.
“The accused person has been on the run for more than five months before he was arrested. Furthermore, my client has a right to a fair trial that needs to commence promptly and conclude within a reasonable timeframe,” said Mrs. Chelagat.
According to the charge sheet, it is alleged that between the 1st of October 2021 and the 31st of January 2022, in Nairobi within Nairobi County, with intent to defraud, you obtained a total sum of Ksh 7,911,000 from Awil Abdurahman Abdulle by falsely pretending that you were in a position to approve and construct a Java Hotel for him in Narok, a fact you knew to be false.
The matter will be mentioned on the 2nd of April.