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A Nairobi magistrate has issued arrest warrants for Kenyan industrialist Benson Sande Ndeta and his co-accused, Charles Hills Jr, after the two men failed to appear in court to answer criminal charges that they fraudulently obtained a $35 million loan from Absa Bank Kenya.
The order came on March 5 after a State prosecutor informed the court that the High Court had dismissed a constitutional petition Ndeta had filed to stop the prosecution. With that legal shield now gone, the magistrate moved quickly.
"A warrant of arrest is hereby issued against the accused, who failed to appear in court to plead to the charges," the magistrate ordered, directing police to produce both suspects in court by March 18, 2026.
Prosecutors allege the two men conspired to defraud Absa Bank of the Sh4.5 billion facility, which was obtained between February 2017 and January 2018. The charge sheet says they misrepresented themselves as acting on behalf of Savannah Cement Limited when securing the funds.
The case carries 12 counts in total, including conspiracy to commit fraud and obtaining credit by false pretence. Hills faces the heavier portion of the charges. Prosecutors say he allegedly induced the bank to accept six corporate guarantee loan security documents and forged extracts of board minutes of Savannah Heights Limited. He also faces charges of obtaining the execution of loan security documents by false pretences.
Ndeta faces several counts of making documents without authority and uttering false documents. Those documents, prosecutors say, include a guarantee and indemnity form, a subordination agreement and extracts of company minutes that were presented to Absa Bank as genuine corporate approvals.
Ndeta first appeared in court when the case was filed in November 2024 but deferred his plea after securing orders from the High Court suspending proceedings pending the determination of his petition. In December 2025, the High Court dismissed that petition and cleared the way for trial.
"I am not persuaded that the petitioner has demonstrated any abuse of prosecutorial discretion or bad faith on the part of the DPP," the judge ruled. "The prosecution enjoys the presumption of legality and ought to proceed, leaving the merits of the allegations to be determined by the trial court."
The criminal case has its roots in a shareholder dispute that dates back to 2016, when Ndeta acquired additional shares in Savannah Cement through a corporate vehicle called Seruji Limited. That transaction triggered litigation involving Savannah Heights Limited and other stakeholders, and later expanded into investigations over whether the corporate documents used in the loan transaction were genuine.
Ndeta left Savannah Cement to found Savannah Clinker, which made a Sh27.7 billion bid for Bamburi Cement in 2023. That deal fell apart after the fraud investigations surfaced and Savannah Clinker withdrew from the process. Tanzania's Amsons Group went on to acquire Bamburi Cement in December 2024 for Sh23.9 billion.
The case returns to Milimani Law Courts on March 18.
