Ex-Senator Gwendo pleads guilty to money theft charges
Former nominated Senator Joy Gwendo who has pleaded guilty to issuing bad cheques to Kisumu East Cotton Growers Cooperative Society amounting to about over Sh3 million. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Ms Gwendo pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of office and issuing bad cheques at the anti-corruption court in Nairobi.
- The offences were allegedly committed between October and December 2016.
- Ms Gwendo will now appear before the magistrate on December 7 for sentencing.
Former nominated Senator Joy Gwendo has pleaded guilty to issuing bad cheques to Kisumu East Cotton Growers Cooperative Society amounting to about over Sh3 million.
Appearing at the anti-corruption court in Nairobi on Monday, Ms Gwendo pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of office and issuing bad cheques.
However, in a plea bargain with the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms Gwendo requested to settle the matter out of court saying she will pay the money in four instalments.
RETURN MONEY
The former legislator agreed to return the money in instalments of Sh432,930.
She had been charged with the offence of stealing, issuing a bad cheque and abuse of office.
Her case had proceeded on trial and had been scheduled for sentencing on December 7.
Anti-Corruption Court Magistrate Douglas Ogoti had initially said that he would deliver a sentence after the prosecution completed executing her trial.
Ms Gwendo, who was nominated by TNA in 2013, was arrested early this year by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission’s officers before being arraigned in court.
She denied the charges and was freed on Sh300,000 cash bail.
FIVE COUNTS
The offences were allegedly committed between October and December 2016.
She has been fighting five counts of stealing and another one of issuing bad cheques.
Ms Gwendo admitted to issuing a cheque of Sh300,000 in to Kisumu East Cotton Growers Cooperative Society through CFC Stanbic Kivuli’s development initiative’s account, yet she knew that the account did not have sufficient funds.
She also admitted issuing another cheque on the same day worth Sh950,000.
The court heard that she committed the offences on December 5, 2016 at her office at KICC, Nairobi.
Ms Gwendo further admitted that on October 23, 2016 at Chiga Parish in Kisumu, she used her position as a State officer to confer herself money belonging to the sacco.
In the plea bargain, the DPP agreed to withdraw two counts of forgery and stealing.
Ms Gwendo will now appear before the magistrate on December 7 for sentencing.
