A woman has been charged in a Mombasa court with conspiring to defraud a landowner of two prime parcels of land in Likoni, Shelly Beach, worth Sh100 million, by allegedly inserting a false lease into land registry records.
Farzana Nur Butt appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Gladys Olimo on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and pleaded not guilty to three charges: conspiracy to defraud, making a false entry in land records, and forcible entry. She was released on a bond of Sh1 million with a surety of a similar amount. The case will come up for a pre-trial conference on November 12, 2026.
According to the charge sheet, Butt is jointly charged with her relatives, Jamshed Ahmed Butt and Fahmeda Begum Butt, who were not in court. They are accused of conspiring to defraud Susan Wanjiru of two parcels of land, LR Mombasa/MS/Block 1/1944 and Mombasa/MS/Block 1/1945, contrary to Section 317 of the Penal Code. The alleged offence was committed between July 12, 2006, and October 20, 2026.
In the second count, the prosecution alleges that on July 12, 2006, Butt inserted Title Lease No. Mombasa/MS/Block 1/416 into the records of the Mombasa Land Registry, intending to deprive Wanjiru of the land while knowing the lease to be false. She is further accused of registering the same parcel in her relatives’ names without the owner’s authority.
The third count accuses her of forcibly entering the disputed property without the consent of its registered owner.
Her lawyer asked the court to grant her reasonable bond terms, telling the magistrate that she has a fixed place of residence within the court’s jurisdiction. The court granted the request.
The case comes amid continuing efforts to tackle land fraud along the Kenyan coast, where prime beachfront property has long been the subject of disputes over ownership and forged title documents. Butt is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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