Three charged with stealing Sh51m from Kilifi County govt
Background from left, Stephen Mutua Ngunzi, Lucy Wanjugu Kibogo and Sarah Wangui Kamau in court on December 5, 2016, accused of stealing Sh51 million from the Kilifi County government. They were released on a Sh5 million bond each. PHOTO | KAZUNGU SAMUEL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Ms Kibogo is accused of conspiracy to steal Sh9,230,645 fraudulently deposited into Zohali Services Ltd’s account.
- Ms Kamau was charged with dishonestly receiving Sh11,331,140 fraudulently deposited into Daima One Enterprise account.
- Mr Ngunzi was charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and handling stolen money belonging to the county government.
- The hearing of the case was set for February 28, 2017.
Three directors of firms linked to the theft of Sh51 million from the Kilifi County government’s Central Bank account have been charged with fraud and handling stolen goods.
Lucy Wanjugu Kibogo, Sarah Wangui Kamau and Stephen Mutua Ngunzi denied the three offences, which they allegedly committed between October 3 and 7, 2016 in Nairobi.
Kilifi Senior Resident Magistrate Leah Wasige heard that Ms Kibogo conspired with others not in court to steal Sh9,230,645 from the Central Bank account belonging to the Kilifi County government and fraudulently deposited it into Zohali Services Ltd’s account.
The second accused, Ms Kamau, was charged with dishonestly receiving Sh11,331,140 fraudulently deposited into the Daima One Enterprise account at Equity Bank's Ngara branch in Nairobi, money that belonged to the Kilifi County government.
The third suspect, Mr Ngunzi, was charged with two offences of conspiracy to commit a crime and handling stolen money belonging to the Kilifi County government.
The court heard that Mr Ngunzi conspired with others not in court to steal Sh6,700,952 belonging to Kilifi County at Consolidated Bank's Umoja branch in Nairobi, money that was fraudulently deposited into Kilingi Investment Company Ltd’s account.
FOURTH SUSPECT IN HOSPITAL
While requesting the court to release the three accused on lenient bond terms, defence lawyer Shem Oduor said the fourth suspect, Samuel Buku Macharia, could not attend court as he had gone to hospital in Nairobi.
However, his appeal was opposed by prosecutors Henry Achochi and Njoki Keng’aara, who asked the court to issue a warrant of arrest against Mr Macharia.
Ms Keng’aara also asked the court to release the accused on strict bond term terms due to the nature and gravity of the offences.
In her ruling, the magistrate said she had ascertained that the fourth accused had produced a letter proving that he is on a four-day sick leave and he should therefore appear in court on Wednesday.
SH5 MILLION BOND
She also released the first three on a Sh5 million bond each with a surety of the same amount or cash bail of Sh1 million.
The hearing of the case was set for February 28, 2017.
Last week, officials from banks holding the accounts of five companies named in the theft told a county assembly committee investigating the loss that they paid their clients after the companies produced all documents required for processing payments.
County Assembly Speaker Jimmy Kahindi, who chaired the session, said the authenticity of the documents used to process the payments is still a subject of investigations.
Officials from Consolidate Bank, Diamond Trust Bank, Jamii Bora Bank and Equity Bank said that after asking their clients to bring supporting documents for the huge sums of money they were receiving from the Kilifi County government, they produced several documents, including tender award notification letters, local purchase orders and invoices signed by County Secretary Owen Baya.
