A forged court order locked out businessman Paul Ndung’u from participating in SportPesa’s ownership dispute. The fraudulent order has placed a top lawyer under criminal investigation for forgery. The details emerged after the Court of Appeal reversed its earlier ruling that blocked Mr Ndung’u from taking part in pending cases. These cases involved control of SportPesa’s assets and shares.
The fake order portrayed Mr Ndung’u as permanently blocked from filing or participating in cases. This order included a case where he contested the use of the SportPesa trademark by Milestone Games.
Conflicting court orders
The genuine High Court order restrained Mr Ndung’u from dealing in Pevans East Africa, the owner of SportPesa, for two weeks. That order was valid only until 24 January 2023. However, the fictitious order carried different wording. It claimed the court had granted an injunction that blocked Mr Ndung’u and his agents in perpetuity.
Milestone Games filed the forged order in the Court of Appeal, and judges relied on it to block him from joining the consent challenge over the SportPesa trademark.
Disputed consent and court proceedings
Milestone Games and the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) allegedly signed the disputed consent. However, five of seven BCLB directors disowned the deal and denied approving SportPesa’s trademark use. Mr Ndung’u appealed to join the case challenging the consent. His application was dismissed on 11 February 2023 by three Court of Appeal judges. He argued Milestone Games had filed “a fraudulent manufactured court order” that misled the court and caused dismissal of his application.
Appeal court reversal
The fake order partly led Justices Daniel Musinga, Mumbi Ngugi, and George Odunga to reverse the 2023 Court of Appeal decision. They ruled Mr Ndung’u had a right to participate in the suit. “The issue of his alleged expulsion as a shareholder of Pevans requires proper interrogation, and that would be impossible unless Paul is joined as a party to the appeal and other proceedings that are pending in court,” said the three judges.
“Turning to the orders of injunction issued by the High Court on 12 January 2023, Paul (Ndung’u) stated, and rightly so, in our view, that the said orders were interim in nature and lapsed by operation of the law as they had not been extended. Milestone did not challenge that averment,” added the judges. The judgment triggered criminal investigations of the top lawyer by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). The forgery case is under OB 23/08/09/2025.
Shareholder battle in SportPesa
The SportPesa dispute pits former partners against each other. Mr Ndung’u and Asenath Wachera, with a combined 38% ownership, are fighting other shareholders. These include chief executive Ronald Karauri and foreign investors controlling nearly half the company.
The regulator cancelled Pevans East Africa’s licence in July 2019 for alleged non-payment of taxes. In October 2020, Milestone Games entered the betting business with the SportPesa brand. Some Pevans shareholders created this new company but excluded Mr Ndung’u and Mrs Maina.
Milestone games ownership
Mr Karauri and Robert Macharia, who had 3% in Pevans, became beneficial owners of Milestone Games. They held 71% and 14 % stakes respectively. The dispute triggered a fierce legal battle over the SportPesa trademark and web domains, with multiple suits filed in Kenyan courts and London.
Mr Ndung’u and Mrs Maina held stakes of 17% and 21% in Pevans. They now face being forced out without compensation. The two have gone to court to challenge their expulsion and the transfer of SportPesa’s brand to Milestone Games. Mr Ndung’u says he held 17% in the firm, but his shares have since dropped to 0.8%. He described this as the result of an “irregular dilution scheme.”
Expulsion in Tanzania
Trouble deepened in October 2022 when shareholders held a general meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and expelled Mr Ndung’u and Mrs Maina. The meeting, summoned under a special resolution, expelled Mr Ndung’u and Mrs Maina.
After the expulsion, directors, including Mr Karauri and Mr Macharia, sought court orders. They wanted Mr Ndung’u and Mrs Maina barred from filing any case on behalf of the company. They argued that the two had no authority after being expelled.
Pending cases and legal losses
Mr Ndung’u says the High Court threatened to close a pending case filed in 2022 before the Judicial Review division. He argued that the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision now bound the High Court. He added that Pevan’s operations remain dormant, causing him financial loss as a shareholder. Meanwhile, he said Milestone Games continues to use Pevans’ assets.
Consent settlement
Mr Ndung’u says he discovered on 5 November 2024 that parties had settled the appeal challenging SportPesa’s brand transfer through consent. Under this agreement, BCLB and Milestone Games said they had resolved disputes over operational permits and SportPesa’s brand use out of court.
The High Court dismissed the consent, saying the dispute required a full trial. Milestone Games appealed the decision and later sought to terminate suits via consent while blocking Mr Ndung’u.
SportPesa’s origins and investors
SportPesa launched in Kenya in 2014 through Pevans. Its investors also held nearly similar stakes in UK-based SportPesa Global Holdings Limited. That entity owns gaming subsidiaries in other markets, including Tanzania.
American Gene Grand owned a 21% stake in Pevans. Bulgarians Guerassim Nikolov, Nikolae Mineva, and Ivan Kalpakchiev together held 26%. The group earned dividends of Sh7.6 billion (€50 million) in four and a half years to June 2019. These dividends underscored SportPesa’s cash-rich status before internal disputes erupted.
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