DCI Bust Fake Lawyer Who Spent 8 Years Conning Clients Millions In 100 Cases

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Friday, February 9 arrested fake lawyer Boniface Kirima in Nakuru alleged to have conned his clients millions of shillings.

Nakuru Police Commander Mohammed Wako, while confirming the incident, revealed that Kirima was arrested after the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) exposed him as the war against quack legal practitioners hots up.

“We further managed to see a charge sheet which indicates that this man has been charged before in a court of law for obtaining money by false pretense with an intention that he can process a title deed and run a transaction of land,” Wako stated.

According to LSK Ethics Committee Chairperson Linda Kiome, the fake lawyer was being investigated for allegedly conning over 100 people millions of shillings under the guise of processing land title deeds.

An LSK official, part of the team that raided the lawyer's office, confirmed that the quack had previously been arrested and charged in court for pretence with intent to con people. 

Astoundingly, while gathering evidence documents from the suspect’s office, the officials found title deeds, some bearing the original Land’s Registry seal, that could be traced back to 2016. 

“We have seen title deeds that are supposedly held in favour of some clients and more than a hundred title deeds are in this office, some of them have the original seal of the land registry, and others have a fake seal from the year 2016 up to date,” Kiome stated.

The arrest is part of the ongoing crackdown by LSK on quack lawyers in the country. More than 30 fake lawyers have been since the crackdown commenced

The most famous crackdown happened in the last quarter of 2023 when Brian Mwenda, a university student, was accused of impersonating a lawyer and practising law without the required certifications, a matter which sparked enormous conversation globally.

Mwenda was arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts on October 18, 2023, after he was grilled by detectives at the DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road. 

"I therefore release the accused person on a bond of Ksh300,000 or a cash bail of Ksh200,000 with one contact person," Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina ruled regarding his release on bail on October 23, 2023.

Despite being deemed a fake lawyer, Mwenda's legal case record was impressive, winning 31 cases contested in court against all odds and defying norms.

The Law Society launched a campaign in May 2023 to expose individuals masquerading as advocates after cases of fake lawyers appearing in court increased in Kenya.