Nairobi lawyer Ambrose Ochuka Abongo, operating under Ambrose Ochuka & Company Advocates at Krishna Centre in Westlands, faces severe professional and legal fallout following allegations of defrauding a client of Ksh 2.9 million.
The conflict originated in September 2025, when a client sought Abongo’s assistance to recover an Ksh 11 million debt from a debtor named Pinto Kidige Omonge.
Abongo revealed he was simultaneously handling a Kajiado property transaction for Omonge and proposed a plan: the client would advance Ksh 5.36 million to clear the property’s balance, allowing Omonge to acquire the title so the client could subsequently attach it to recover the initial debt.
Between December 2025 and March 2026, the client remitted Ksh 2.9 million through bank transfers, M-Pesa, and Pesalink.
However, the client could not raise the remaining balance, halting the property acquisition. While the recovery process stalled, Abongo retained the advanced funds.
On May 14, 2026, the client’s new legal counsel, Fatah and Company Advocates, issued a formal demand for an immediate refund within 48 hours. Abongo rejected the timeframe on May 17, offering instead to refund the Ksh 2.9 million across six installments stretching to September 2026 mirroring the timeline in which the client had remitted the funds.
“The said monies were paid to you on the clear understanding that they were to facilitate and/or aid the intended recovery process and auction proceedings concerning the aforesaid property,” the demand letter states.
“This amount fell short of the initially requested advancement and as such frustrated the arrangement,” Ochuka wrote.
“Upon your release and receipt by our firm of the original Title Documents of property Known as Town House No 1 Title No. KAJIADO/KAPUTIEI NORTH/113994, our Client shall remit the balance of Kenya Shillings One Million Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand (Ksh 1,550,000) to your account within thirty (30) days,” the professional undertaking states.
“Take notice therefore that we hereby demand the immediate and unconditional refund of the sum of Kenya Shillings Two Million nine Hundred Thousand (Ksh 2,900,000) within forty-eight (48) hours from the time of receipt of this letter,” the letter states.
“You have failed and/or neglected to undertake the agreed process or refund the monies to our Client, thereby turning the entire transaction into a scheme aimed at unlawfully obtaining money by false pretences,” the letter continues.
“The undersigned acknowledges receipt of the sum of KES. 2,900,000 as an advancement from your client and accepts to refund your client in the same manner and fashion of advancement,” Ochuka wrote.
“The undersigned shall not pay the sum of KES. 2,900,000 within the forty-eight (48) hours or any such other timelines that fall short of the time taken by your client to advance him the said funds but shall refund the same as above stated,” Ochuka wrote.
“He is known in legal circles as someone who preys on desperate clients,” an advocate who has practiced in Nairobi for over two decades told this publication on condition of anonymity.
“The money goes in, nothing comes out, and the client is left with no recourse except a complaint that takes years to resolve.”
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) at Parklands Police Station has completed an inquiry, recommending that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) charge Abongo with obtaining money by false pretences. Parallel complaints have also been lodged with the Advocates Complaints Commission and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), as additional former clients come forward with similar allegations.
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