A director of Goldenscape Group Peter Wangai who is alleged to have conned Kenyans of millions of shillings in fake greenhouse investment has been released on Sh10 million cash bail.

Wangai who is the Goldenscape founder and CEO appeared before Milimani Chief magistrate Martha Mutuku but did not plead to the 357 charges of defrauding several investors through the collapsed greenhouse business.

“I order that the accused person to be released on a cash bail of Sh10 million with an alternative bond of Sh20 million pending further directions and plea taking on August 9, 2021,” said Mutuku.

Wangai did not plead to 357 charges filed in court by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to await magistrate Mutuku’s decision whether the court will consolidate the counts on  one charge sheet.

According to charge sheets filed in court in over 10 files, the embattled businessman is facing charges of obtaining money by falsely pretending that he was in a position to pay money as a return on investment on each green house after every six months.

He is also facing charges of issuing bad cheques.

The over 1,000 victims or investors in the cases are represented by lawyer Mutea Michael and Kennedy Wambua Mwange.

Blocking sale

The prosecution alleges that the offences were committed between 2018 and 2019.

It is said that Wangai offered investors the option of leasing greenhouses with contracts that promised rich returns, only to fail to pay them from late 2019 despite numerous promises and assurances.

In February this year, Wangai denied 21 counts of fraud related charges, dismissed the allegations by the victims and informed the court that he was only a director of Goldenscape Company.

Wangai is said to have obtained varying amounts of money from  over 1000 individuals between 2019 and 2020, promising them handsome returns on their investments.

In the case, Wangai was released on a bond of Sh5 million or a Sh2 million cash bail with one contact person pending the hearing  of the case.  

The High Court has since issued an order blocking sales of several properties worth over Sh1.5 billion linked to director Wangai alleged to have been involved in money laundering.