Skyline Director in Eastleigh Fraud Case Granted Bail

A Nairobi court has granted bail to a company director accused of forging land documents, with the defence anchoring its application on the existence of a parallel dispute over the same property before the Environment and Land Court.

Abdul Hassan Tahalil, a director of Skyline, was arraigned before Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina on April 24, 2026, where he faced two counts relating to alleged forgery and uttering of a false document. He denied the charges, prompting the court to enter a plea of not guilty.

The prosecution contends that the accused, alongside others not before the court, fraudulently prepared an indenture with the intention of depriving Mary Wairimu Muhoro of ownership of a parcel of land in Eastleigh, estimated to be worth Ksh25 million. It is alleged that the document was falsely attributed to the firm of CK Advocates to give it the appearance of authenticity.

Further particulars indicate that the accused is said to have presented the disputed indenture before the Environment and Land Court at Milimani on November 30, 2022, in Civil Suit No. 409 of 2022, fully aware that the document was not genuine.

In pushing for lenient bail terms, the defence placed significant reliance on the existence of an ongoing civil suit over the same parcel of land, currently pending determination before the Environment and Land Court.

The court heard that the matter is scheduled for hearing on July 2, 2026, and revolves around competing claims of ownership and validity of the very documents now forming the basis of the criminal charges.

Defence counsel argued that the issues raised in the criminal proceedings are substantially intertwined with those in the civil suit, particularly on the authenticity of the indenture and rightful ownership of the land.

They further submitted that the accused had already subjected himself to the jurisdiction of the civil court and had engaged the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions through formal correspondence on the overlap between the two matters.

The prosecution did not oppose the application for bail, leaving the terms to the discretion of the court.In its ruling, the court admitted Tahalil to a bond of Ksh1 million with one surety, or in the alternative, a cash bail of Ksh500,000, in addition to providing two contact persons.

The case will be mentioned on May 6, 2026, for pre-trial directions as both the criminal proceedings and the parallel civil dispute continue on separate tracks.