MOMBASA, Kenya — A woman has lost a fraud claim against a car dealership after a Mombasa court found that she had failed to prove allegations that the dealer conspired with her former partner to fraudulently sell her vehicle.
However, the court ordered her former partner to repay Sh350,000 after finding that he had failed to fully account for proceeds from the sale of the car.
Zainabu Waithira Njehia had sued Royal Autoworld International Limited and Moses Mbugua Mungai, seeking Sh1.35 million in compensation, general damages for fraud and mental anguish, together with costs and interest.
Njehia claimed the defendants conspired to dispose of her Toyota Auris, registration number KDH 880T, and that Mungai retained part of the proceeds.
Dispute Over Toyota Auris
The court heard that Njehia entered into an agreement with Royal Autoworld on October 25, 2022, to purchase the Toyota Auris for Sh1.8 million.
She traded in her Toyota Ractis, valued at Sh750,000, and paid an additional Sh600,000 in cash. The remaining Sh450,000 was due by November 6, 2022.
Njehia failed to clear the balance, leaving the vehicle in the dealer’s possession.
She later alleged that the defendants fraudulently disposed of the vehicle using an affidavit falsely attributed to her and a fraudulent email.
She accused Mungai of hacking her email account, impersonating her and selling the vehicle for Sh1.2 million, after which he allegedly retained part of the proceeds.
Royal Autoworld did not dispute the original transaction but maintained that after Njehia defaulted on the balance, she eventually communicated that the vehicle could be sold and the outstanding amount recovered from the proceeds.
“The first defendant [Royal Autoworld] relied upon WhatsApp communications, an email allegedly originating from the plaintiff’s email address, and two affidavits dated November 12, 2022,” the court heard.
The dealership maintained that it neither procured the buyer nor received the Sh1.2 million sale proceeds, adding that its interest was limited to the outstanding Sh450,000, which it subsequently received.
Ex-Partner Admits Selling the Vehicle
Mungai admitted that he and Njehia had previously been in a romantic relationship and had lived together.
He also admitted that he found a buyer for the vehicle and sold it for Sh1.2 million, with the entire amount initially deposited into his bank account.
Mungai told the court that he paid Sh450,000 to Royal Autoworld and Sh100,000 in brokerage fees. He said he subsequently sent Njehia Sh300,000 on November 25, 2022, and another Sh100,000 on January 5, 2023.
He retained Sh250,000, claiming that Njehia owed him Sh3.4 million from a separate debt.
Court Rejects Fraud Allegations
Senior Resident Magistrate Emily Mwamuye found that Njehia had failed to prove fraud or conspiracy against either Royal Autoworld or Mungai to the required legal standard.
The court noted that Njehia had alleged that an affidavit dated November 12, 2022, was forged and that an email relied upon by the defendants had been generated after her account was allegedly hacked.
“The plaintiff’s case was that the affidavit of November 12, 2022 was forged and the email relied upon by the defendants was fraudulent or generated after her email was hacked. Those are serious and specific allegations,” the magistrate stated.
“The difficulty is that the evidentiary record does not contain forensic evidence establishing either proposition.”
The magistrate noted that no handwriting expert was called to compare the disputed signature with an admitted specimen.
The advocate who allegedly commissioned the disputed affidavits was also not called to testify about their authenticity or the circumstances under which they were prepared.
“No document examiner was called to compare the disputed signature with an admitted specimen.”
“Neither was the advocate before whom the disputed affidavits purportedly came into existence called to disown the commissioning or explain the circumstances in which the documents were prepared.”
The court said the absence of expert evidence was not automatically fatal to the case because fraud could be established through other compelling circumstantial evidence. However, the evidence presented did not sufficiently establish that the signature or electronic communication had been fabricated.
The court consequently dismissed the claim against Royal Autoworld, finding that the dealership had received only the Sh450,000 it was contractually owed.
It also declined to award general damages for fraud and mental anguish because the fraud allegations had not been proved.
Mungai Ordered to Pay Sh350,000
Despite dismissing the fraud claim, the court found that Mungai had failed to account for Sh350,000 from the vehicle’s sale proceeds.
He was therefore ordered to pay Njehia Sh350,000, together with interest at court rates from the date the suit was filed.
Mungai was also ordered to meet Njehia’s legal costs.
The ruling means Njehia failed to establish her wider fraud and conspiracy allegations against the car dealer, but secured a judgment for the portion of the vehicle’s sale proceeds that the court found her former partner had not accounted for.
