Fraud Scandal Fear as DCI Freezes Law Firm’s Account, Millions in Client Funds Trapped

A storm is brewing in Kenya’s legal fraternity after detectives froze the bank account of Akedi & Olalo Advocates, thrusting millions of client funds into limbo and igniting fresh fears about the vulnerability of law firms to fraud and state overreach.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) secured an ex parte order on August 7 to freeze the firm’s Equity Bank account, citing suspected fraud.

While details remain murky, the move has already paralysed transactions, delayed settlements, and left clients staring at potentially devastating financial losses.

In court filings, the firm’s partner Samuel Olalo warned that the freeze has effectively crippled operations and undermined clients’ constitutional rights.

“The freezing orders are interfering with the management of clients’ affairs and infringe on their constitutional rights to property and fair administrative action,” he argued in an affidavit, insisting the firm’s trust account should not be subjected to arbitrary interference.

Co-partner Ronny Akedi, who authorised the legal challenge, accused investigators of dragging their feet while inflicting reputational harm that could permanently damage the practice.

The lawyers maintain they have cooperated fully with the DCI since the freeze was imposed, insisting that detectives have had “sufficient time” to complete their probe.

But beyond this single law firm, the case is exposing an uncomfortable truth: that lawyers’ trust accounts—long considered sacrosanct—are increasingly being dragged into the murky world of financial crime.

Kenya has a long, chequered history of law firms being caught in the crosshairs of mega scandals. In 2016, the now-defunct Ndung’u Njoroge & Kwach Advocates was accused of holding over Sh280 million in questionable deposits linked to tender kickbacks in a Kenya Pipeline Company deal.

In 2018, reports surfaced that accounts operated by veteran lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi’s firm had come under scrutiny in relation to the disputed Sh1.5 billion National Bank land transaction.

Even more explosive was the case of Ojiambo & Co. Advocates, whose accounts investigators said were used to funnel part of the Sh468 million NYS II loot in 2017.

Earlier, in the Anglo Leasing affair, detectives traced payments worth billions through lawyers’ accounts that masked transfers to shadowy offshore entities.

And in the collapsed Imperial Bank saga, multiple law firms were probed for allegedly laundering proceeds of the Sh34 billion fraud through routine conveyancing and settlement accounts.

These cases underline a disturbing pattern: law firms, entrusted with client monies, have become convenient laundromats for dirty cash.

Investigators argue that the legal shield around trust accounts makes them ideal for hiding illicit transfers.

Lawyers counter that freezing accounts without concrete evidence is a dangerous shortcut that destroys reputations and leaves innocent clients stranded.

The freeze on Akedi & Olalo’s account, therefore, is not an isolated skirmish but part of a broader tug-of-war over accountability in the profession.

The DCI has in recent years expanded its use of freezing orders as a blunt instrument to choke off suspected laundering, even before full evidence is assembled.

For now, however, it is clients who are paying the heaviest price.

Delayed settlements, paralysed conveyancing deals, and stalled litigation have turned a technical legal dispute into a full-blown crisis for ordinary Kenyans and companies that entrusted their money to the firm.

The matter, filed under Miscellaneous Criminal Application No. E3000 of 2025, is set to return to Milimani Law Courts in the coming weeks, where a magistrate will decide whether the freeze stands or is lifted.

Either way, the case is shaping up as a litmus test for the uneasy balance between state power and professional autonomy—and could determine whether Kenya’s legal fraternity can continue to claim immunity over the billions of shillings coursing through its trust accounts every year.