Four in court after sharing cash sent to wrong number on M-Pesa
A woman who received and distributed Sh149, 952 accidentally sent to her phone via M-Pesa has been charged with theft alongside three other people with whom she shared the money.
Felistar Mbula Mutio was charged at the Kibera Law Courts with stealing the money contrary to section 268 as read with section 275 of the penal code. She was charged alongside Kelvin Mwendwa Mativo, Maureen Nditiva Mutinda and Elizabeth Mutave Mwanthi.
The four are accused of stealing the cash from Patrick Kamau Njihia in Westlands, Nairobi on diverse dates between May 25 and May 28, 2022.
Mr Njihia was sending the cash to his wife to offset a relative’s hospital bill but the latter’s number had been sold to Ms Mutio after remaining out of use for long.
Ms Mutio is allegedly to have informed the three other accused persons that she had received the cash and proceeded to share it with them. She is reported to have transferred different amounts to the co-accused persons.
When the money transfer delayed, Mr Njihia’s wife got concerned and informed him about it, only for them to discover that the money had been sent to a wrong number.
They contacted Safaricom but it was too late since the money had already been transferred, prompting them to report the matter at Parklands police station. The police thereafter traced and arrested Ms Mutio and her three accomplices.
All the accused persons denied the charges before Chief Magistrate Anne Mwangi and were released on cash bail of Sh30,000 each. The case will be mentioned on June 27, 2022 for a pretrial and fixing of hearing dates.