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Friday, September 29, 2023 –Court in Nairobi has frozen Rai family bank account after a protracted court battle amongst Rai family members.
Nairobi High Court, in its ruling, directed that the bank account held by the Rai Family be blocked after one of the brothers filed a case claiming he had been kicked out as a signatory.
In a reignited fierce succession battle between the Rai’s, Iqbal Rai, through Lawyer Ekuru Aukot, managed to convince the court that he was struck out as a signatory to Rai Investments Ltd bank account held at a local bank despite being a sibling.
“The Applicant was wrongfully removed from the mandate of the interested party unprocedural and without a resolution. The said removal renders the account susceptible to manipulation and withdrawals without the consent of the Applicant who is still a director/shareholder,” an application filed by Iqbal through his lawyer Ekuru Aukot read in part.
The fight pits him against his elder brother Jaswant Rai who is currently on a Statehouse radar over sugar-related businesses.
To that extend, Iqbal now wants the court to reinstate his name in the succession of the multi-billion business empire.
Their wealthy father, Tarlocham Signh Rai, died in the year 2010 and it was from that time that elder Rai started showing signs of sidelining Iqbal.
“All efforts by the Plaintiff to follow up on the matter and to ensure that he is restored as being part of the mandate have been treated with contempt despite the grave risk that obtains in the current circumstances,” partly read the court documents.
Though, upto some time, he was part of the empire as co-director, his woes started piling in February 2013.
He told the court that, since that time, he cannot access bank statements of the family business empire and that, for that reason, he wants the magistrate to pile pressure on Jaswant Rai to produce the statements since March 2023.
“That sometime towards the end of February 2023, I requested the Defendant for Rai Investments Limited’s bank statements in my capacity as director/shareholder but was, to my shock and dismay, told that I could not access the bank statements as was not on the bank mandate,” Iqbal stated before the Court.
Interestingly, from the records of the Companies Registrar at the Attorney Generals offices, Iqbal is still listed as a director of the empire.
Apart from Sugar industry, Rai family has invested heavily in real estate, luxury merchandise shops, and manufacturing with operations in multiple countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi.
In Kenya alone, Rai has oil, sugar and plywood manufacturing factories that have been in operation for decades.
