Ngatia wants court to freeze account at Chase Bank

Top Nairobi lawyer Fred Ngatia has sued Interactive Gaming and Lotteries Ltd for Sh15 million in legal fees.

The lawyer says his company, Ngatia and Associates Advocates, rendered legal services to the betting firm between 2011 and 2013 but had not been paid.

He claims the firm instead challenged all the fees. The senior counsel wants the court to freeze the betting company’s account at Chase Bank.

“In the event that these funds held at Chase Bank Ltd are released to the defendant, the plaintiff will not be able to recover the taxed costs from the defendant as the plaintiff is not aware of any assets owned by the defendant in Kenya,” he says in court documents.

CONSENT

The law firm was a joint signatory in the interest-earning Chase Bank account that held Sh50 million while his company was acting for the betting firm.

Mr Ngatia says he acted for the firm until 2013, when the company appointed another law firm to take over the suit.

The law firm later filed a case to be allowed to deduct legal fees from the fund but the court in November 2007 declined the request on grounds that the betting company had not consented to the use of the funds to settle the fees.

The court directed the funds to be released to the betting company.

ORDER

Mr Ngatia told the court that Chase Bank’s receiver was expected to start releasing the funds to depositors after successful takeover of the collapsed lender by SBM Holdings of Mauritius, and feared that the Sh33 million balance in the account could be released to the betting firm.

Last week Justice Joseph Onguto ordered Chase Bank not to release the cash to any of the two parties until April 5.