How Middle East Bank Kenya Effed Up A Client In Sh195 Million Deal

NAIROBI, Kenya – In a blistering indictment of banking practices, Middle East Bank Kenya has been dragged through the courts for allegedly pocketing Sh195.2 million from a land buyer and then refusing to hand over the property.

Hussein Alibhai Pirbhai and his investment vehicle Tranquility Holdings Limited are now locked in a bitter legal battle with the mid-sized lender after what should have been a straightforward auction purchase turned into a year-long nightmare of broken promises and legal wrangling.

The trouble began in November 2023 when Pirbhai successfully bid for the land at a public auction conducted by the bank. Court documents reveal he paid a 10 percent deposit of Sh19.5 million on the spot and signed a sale agreement the same day, expecting a smooth transfer of ownership.

What followed instead was a slow-motion catastrophe that has left Pirbhai holding receipts for millions of shillings but no title deed.

According to court filings, the bank assured Pirbhai in February 2024 that all transfer documents were ready and waiting. Acting on that assurance, he instructed Tranquility Holdings to wire the massive balance of Sh175.75 million to complete the purchase.

The money landed in Middle East Bank’s accounts. But the land title never landed in Pirbhai’s hands.

The bank, it turns out, had a dirty little secret. There was a pending High Court case that prohibited completion of the land sale. The bank never bothered to tell the buyer about this inconvenient legal obstacle before collecting his millions.

Even more outrageously, when the bank finally won that High Court case on July 31, 2025, clearing the way for the transfer, it still refused to complete the transaction. For over a year, Pirbhai’s Sh195 million sat in the bank’s coffers while his land remained locked up.

Desperate to force the bank’s hand, Pirbhai filed an application at the Environment and Land Court demanding that Middle East Bank be compelled to complete the sale they had already been paid for.

The bank’s response was as brazen as it was insulting. Instead of explaining why it had failed to deliver on its contractual obligations, Middle East Bank tried to get the case thrown out on a technicality, arguing that the Environment and Land Court lacked jurisdiction and that only the High Court should hear the dispute.

Justice CG Mbogo was having none of it.

In a February 5, 2026 ruling that must have stung the bank’s legal team, the judge systematically demolished Middle East Bank’s arguments and ruled that the case was squarely within the Environment and Land Court’s domain.

“In applying the predominant purpose test, it is clear that the intention of the contract in the present case was the sale and purchase of land, which will govern the ownership, occupation and title to the suit land, exactly what this court was designed to hear and determine,” Justice Mbogo ruled.

The judge didn’t stop there. In language rarely seen in judicial pronouncements, Mbogo declared the bank’s application “misplaced and misconceived” and dismissed it with costs awarded to Pirbhai.

“From the above, I find the notice of motion dated November 25, 2025 misplaced and misconceived. The same lacks merit and it is thus dismissed with costs to the plaintiffs/respondents,” the court said.

The ruling means Middle East Bank will now have to face Pirbhai’s full claim for specific performance of the sale agreement, with the buyer seeking court orders forcing the lender to finally hand over the land he paid for in full over a year ago.

The case adds to a growing pile of legal headaches for Kenyan banks over botched land transactions. KCB Group is facing a Sh1.3 billion compensation claim over a frustrated land auction in Naivasha, while Equity Bank was recently slapped down by the High Court for an improper land sale that violated basic procedural requirements.

Industry watchers say the Middle East Bank case highlights dangerous gaps in how financial institutions handle auctioned properties. The practice of collecting full payment before resolving title issues has left buyers vulnerable to exactly the kind of limbo Pirbhai now finds himself in.

For Pirbhai, the court victory is only the first step. He still needs the court to actually order the transfer of the land, a process that could take months more. In the meantime, his Sh195.2 million continues to sit uselessly in the bank’s accounts while the land generates no income and no value for him.

Middle East Bank Kenya, a relatively small lender ranked near the bottom of Kenya’s 43 commercial banks by assets, has not publicly commented on the case. The bank’s website boasts of serving “a broad range of clientele” and offering specialized services to high-net-worth individuals.

One such high-net-worth individual might now be wondering if those services include holding onto his money without delivering the goods.

The case is set to proceed to full hearing, where Pirbhai will press his claim for the land transfer he has already paid for. Legal experts say the bank faces an uphill battle defending its failure to complete a transaction it has been paid for in full.

For buyers eyeing properties at bank auctions, the case serves as a stark warning. Even when you pay in full, even when the bank says the documents are ready, and even when you’ve done everything right, you might still end up in court fighting for what you’ve already bought.

And in Kenya’s congested judicial system, that fight could take years.

The Environment and Land Court has not yet set a date for the substantive hearing of Pirbhai’s application to compel the transfer.