The Milimani Law Courts has been told how former Oki Trading Company Limited (OTCL) Managing Director, Honey Khatwani, allegedly diverted more than KSh 356 million from the company into his personal accounts.
The case, which is being heard before Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego, has featured testimony describing irregular employment practices, financial manipulation, and systematic diversion of funds said to have occurred between 2020 and 2024.
The first witness, Jatin Aswani, told the court that he worked for OTCL from July 2023 without proper documentation and that despite repeatedly requesting Khatwani to process his work permit, nothing was ever done.
He explained that although he signed an employment contract, he was never given a copy, insisting that contracts remained with the director and not employees. Aswani added that staff were paid in cash rather than through formal banking systems and said he continued working under verbal threats from the former director, although he admitted he had no physical proof of those threats.
The second witness, Sameer Kewal Ramani, who identified himself as a relative of the accused, testified that he was instructed to deposit company earnings directly into Khatwani’s personal Ecobank account in both Kenyan shillings and US dollars, as well as into his wife’s M-Pesa account.
He explained that daily sales reports were shared with Khatwani via WhatsApp and that the former director would alter the reports to conceal discrepancies. Ramani further revealed that while still serving as OTCL’s managing director, Khatwani established another company, Galaxy Middle East Africa Limited, and personally contacted OTCL clients to redirect business to his new venture.
The court heard that an audit exposed the alleged scheme, showing that KSh 356,711,806 had been misappropriated between January 2020 and June 2024. According to the audit, cheques meant for OTCL were deposited into Khatwani’s personal accounts while fake invoices were created to cover up the transactions.
The testimonies painted a picture of a company where financial controls were deliberately ignored and employees worked under irregular conditions.
While Aswani’s evidence highlighted the lack of proper employment structures and coercion at the workplace, Ramani’s testimony detailed a sophisticated system of financial diversion involving personal bank accounts, mobile money, and falsified records.
Khatwani is now facing serious charges of stealing approximately KSh 356 million through his position as company director, with the court expected to examine further financial documents and communication logs as the case continues
