The prosecution opposed his release on bond arguing that Mr Ndeta posed a flight risk.
Ndeta's co-accused, Mr Charles Hills Jr, was not in court when the charges were read.
The High Court has ordered the release of businessman Benson Sande Ndeta, pending the determination of a petition he had filed on Thursday.
High Court judge Bahati Mwamuye said Mr Ndeta should be released, forthwith, a few hours after a Nairobi magistrate ordered that he be remanded at Muthaiga Police Station until Monday.
The order, issued on Friday, had prevented the police from arresting him and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga from preferring criminal charges against the businessman over matters relating to Savannah Cement Limited, where he was a majority shareholder, on the basis of the loans taken by the manufacturer.
“..and if the petitioner/applicant (Mr Ndeta) is in custody with respect to any of the foregoing at the time this court order is served then, he shall be released forthwith,” said the judge.
The court directed his lawyers to serve the court documents on the DPP by close of business on Monday, December 2.
The matter will be mentioned on January 21 for further directions.
Mr Ndeta was to spend the weekend in police custody pending a ruling on his bail application on Monday, after he denied Sh4.5 billion fraud charges.
Milimani Law Court senior principal magistrate Gilbert Shikwe had directed Mr Ndeta to be remanded at Muthaiga Police Station until December 2, when he will rule on whether he should be released on bond.
The prosecution opposed his release on bond, arguing that Mr Ndeta posed a flight risk since he has not shown the police his residence and had withheld any information about himself.
The businessman, who owns Savannah Clinker Limited, denied eight counts, including a conspiracy to commit a felony, obtaining execution of a security by false pretence and uttering false documents.
Immediately after he denied the charges, his lawyer Cecil Miller termed the allegations as malicious, saying it was astonishing that an industrialist could be charged for securing a loan from a lender to create jobs and increase the country’s revenue.
“Mr Ndeta is a victim of business competition after (he) successfully bidded for the purchase of Bamburi Cement Company,” Mr Miller submitted, adding that his client was the first person in history to be charged with a criminal offence for obtaining a commercial loan.
Mr Ndeta's co-accused, Charles Hills Jr, was not in court when the charges were read.
In the first count, Mr Ndeta and Mr Hills Jr are accused of conspiracy to commit a felony by obtaining a loan of $35 million (Sh4.5 billion) from Barclays Bank, now known as Absa Bank.
It is alleged that they committed the offence on diverse dates between February 27, 2017 and January 24, 2018, with intent to defraud.
On the charge of obtaining credit by false pretence, the duo is alleged to have jointly obtained the loan by purporting to be acting on behalf of Savannah Cement Limited. The firm was placed under administration in November 2022.
Mr Ndeta further denied charges of obtaining registration by false pretence. The charge sheet stated that he committed the offence May 9, 2018, at Absa Bank headquarters in Nairobi.
It is alleged that he knowingly and fraudulently uttered forged cooperate guarantee loan security documents, dated May 9, 2018, a subordination agreement dated the same day and extra minutes of Savannah Heights Limited to Christine Mwende Nzau, a corporate relationship manager, purporting them to be genuine documents issued by Savannah Cement.
Mr Hills Jnr is alleged to have procured for the cement manufacturer, a guarantee and certificate of indemnity by falsely pretending that he was the director and secretary of Savannah Heights Limited, a property developer.
He is also alleged to have a subordination agreement dated May 9, 2018 between Savannah Heights Limited, Seruji Limited and Savannah Cement Limited, in which he purported to be a director of Savannah Heights.
Through Mr Miller, Mr Ndeta said the amount was meant to be pumped into his vast business empire.
Saying that the accused was not a flight risk as claimed by prosecuting counsel Judy Koech, Mr Miller maintained that the accused person was a Kenyan who has a family and a school-going child with huge investments in the country, hence the allegations that he could flee the country were not true.
The prosecution also claimed that Mr Ndeta might interfere with the investigations.
The charges come a few weeks after Mr Ndeta, through his firm Savannah Clinker, a private firm registered in 2019, proposed to pay Sh25.41 billion for Bamburi Cement.
The businessman offered to offer Sh70 for every share to acquire the giant company, beating Tanzania-based conglomerate Amsons Industries, which offered Sh65 per share or a total of Sh23.59 billion.
Savannah Cement, a company formed by a group of Kenyan and Chinese investors, to enter the lucrative cement market, ran into headwinds that sparked shareholder battles, matters that are still pending in court.
The Kenyan shareholders were under Savannah Heights with Donald Mwaura holding 30 percent, and John Gachanga through Isinya Plains Limited and Mr Ndeta with a 35 percent stake each.
The Chinese invested in the company through two companies -- Wanho International Limited and Acme Wanji Investment Limited. Wanho and Acme Wanji owned 60 percent of Savannah Cement, while Savannah Heights held the remaining 40 percent in a deal that was cemented through a memorandum of understanding.
The partners later fell out after it emerged that Mr Ndeta had bought off the Chinese and transferred the shares to Seruji Limited, a move that was approved by the Competition Authority.
The firm was placed under administration by KCB and Absa after failing to pay the loan of Sh10 billion.
