Nairobi businessman acquitted of Sh13.7 million counterfeit charges
According to the prosecution, Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) officers raided the accused's shops on Tsavo Road in Nairobi's CBD and allegedly seized several counterfeit toners, cartridges, and tools used in their production.
A Nairobi businessman has been acquitted of charges of being in possession of and making counterfeit goods after the court found that crucial exhibits had either been lost or tampered with before being produced in court.
Milimani Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi freed Mukinyi Mwakavi, a director of Wincop Services Limited, alongside his company, after ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
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Mwakavi and his firm had been charged with two counts of possessing counterfeit goods valued at Sh9.7 million and making counterfeit products worth Sh4 million in contravention of the Anti-Counterfeit Act, 2008.
According to the prosecution, Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) officers, together with representatives of Hewlett-Packard's investigators, Halliday Finch, raided the accused's shops on Tsavo Road in Nairobi's CBD and allegedly seized several counterfeit toners, cartridges, and tools used in their production.
The items were ferried to the ACA depot at Kyangombe before being moved to a storage facility in Athi River.
However, during the trial, it emerged that most of the exhibits were never presented in court.
Prosecution witnesses admitted under cross-examination by defence lawyer John Ochieng Ogada, assisted by Beth Njeru, that samples taken for testing had been disposed of before being tabled in court. The records showing the transfer of goods from Kyangombe to Athi River were also never produced.
Ogada argued that the missing records and disposed exhibits showed clear evidence of tampering, and that the chain of custody could not be established, making the prosecution's case unreliable.
In her judgment, Magistrate Shitubi agreed, noting that "the integrity of the prosecution's case was compromised" since many of the exhibits had either disappeared or were interfered with.
While acquitting Mwakavi and his company, the magistrate nonetheless ordered that the seized goods be forfeited to the state.
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