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Businessman charged with ‘Bitcoin’ fraud


A businessman who allegedly conned another trader of Sh2 Million after luring him into a fraudulent bitcoin business was charged with obtaining the money by false pretences.

Peter Kimani Njenga is accused of obtaining Sh2,040,000 from Michael Musyoki Nzivo pretending that he was able to invest for him in bitcoin, a fact he knew to be false.

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.

Njenga committed the alleged offence between May 4 and 5 in Nairobi allegedly promising Nzivo to gain 74 percent of the amount in profits.

Nzivo deposited the money in Njenga’s bank accounts in two installments but the recipient then went underground after receiving the cash until police traced and arrested him.

Njenga denied the charges before senior principal magistrate Derrick Kuto of Kibera law courts.

He was freed on a Sh2 million bond and an alternative cash bail of Sh500,000. The case will be mentioned on June 15.